Atlas is down...

[Jay Honeck]

No, not *that* down...

Had my A&P install my new whiz-bang Iridium fine wire plugs yesterday, and
sent him on a chase for that pesky oil leak.

So what did he find? A cracked exhaust pipe, right at the weld in the
"gatherer" (where the three pipes come together).

Then, when we pulled the thing off, we found the inside of the muffler
rotted away.

Damn. Of course, the good news is that my plane didn't become a blow-torch
in flight, as it very well could have on our next flight. Nothing like
1500 degree gases 4 inches from gas and oil lines.

Oh well -- the best news is that (with the exhaust system off) he was able
to get at the bottom of the engine and tighten up some loose fittings that
should help alleviate my oil drips. That, and we're replacing the valve
cover gaskets with neoprene.

It's always *something*, ain't it? Now I get to DRIVE to Wisconsin today.
5.5 hours with two kids asking "are we there yet?"

Luckily, Dawley Aviation (the exhaust repair station) is on my way to
Racine, and I'll be able to swap out my old exhaust system for a "new" one
without going very far out of my way. Atlas should be back up and running
Friday.

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jon Kraus]

Make sure you bring your checkbook for the exhaust. If your muffler's
baqffles are gone and another pipe is bad, the others probably aren't
too far behind. Our "new" exhaust at annual was 1.8 AMU's for our IO-360
in 43H .. Ouch!! Like you said though, good thing it didn't fail in
flight.

Jon Kraus
'79 Mooney 201
4443H @ TYQ





Jay Honeck wrote:
> No, not *that* down...
>
> Had my A&P install my new whiz-bang Iridium fine wire plugs yesterday, and
> sent him on a chase for that pesky oil leak.
>
> So what did he find? A cracked exhaust pipe, right at the weld in the
> "gatherer" (where the three pipes come together).
>
> Then, when we pulled the thing off, we found the inside of the muffler
> rotted away.
>
> Damn. Of course, the good news is that my plane didn't become a blow-torch
> in flight, as it very well could have on our next flight. Nothing like
> 1500 degree gases 4 inches from gas and oil lines.
>
> Oh well -- the best news is that (with the exhaust system off) he was able
> to get at the bottom of the engine and tighten up some loose fittings that
> should help alleviate my oil drips. That, and we're replacing the valve
> cover gaskets with neoprene.
>
> It's always *something*, ain't it? Now I get to DRIVE to Wisconsin today.
> 5.5 hours with two kids asking "are we there yet?"
>
> Luckily, Dawley Aviation (the exhaust repair station) is on my way to
> Racine, and I'll be able to swap out my old exhaust system for a "new" one
> without going very far out of my way. Atlas should be back up and running
> Friday.
>
> :-)

[Peter R.]

Jay Honeck > wrote:

> It's always *something*, ain't it?

Ain't that the truth.

> Now I get to DRIVE to Wisconsin today.
> 5.5 hours with two kids asking "are we there yet?"

No options to rent an aircraft?

--
Peter

[Peter R.]

Jim Burns > wrote:

> IFR forecast along his route. Freezing mist and fog changing to freezing
> rain up by me.

Now, that's a horse of a different color...

--
Peter

[Jim Burns]

IFR forecast along his route. Freezing mist and fog changing to freezing
rain up by me.
Jim

"Peter R." > wrote in message
...
> Jay Honeck > wrote:
>
> > It's always *something*, ain't it?
>
> Ain't that the truth.
>
> > Now I get to DRIVE to Wisconsin today.
> > 5.5 hours with two kids asking "are we there yet?"
>
> No options to rent an aircraft?
>
> --
> Peter

[john smith]

In article >,
"Peter R." > wrote:

> Jay Honeck > wrote:
>
> > It's always *something*, ain't it?
>
> Ain't that the truth.
>
> > Now I get to DRIVE to Wisconsin today.
> > 5.5 hours with two kids asking "are we there yet?"

> No options to rent an aircraft?

There probably is, but it is most likely a high wing Cessna.
And we all know Jay would not be caught flying a high wing airplane,
don't we? :-))

[Jim Burns]

It's been a rotten early winter for flying up here in the midwest. Repeated
systems of low clouds, ice, drizzle, freezing rain, or snow and wind with no
breaks between them.
Jim

"Peter R." > wrote in message
...
> Jim Burns > wrote:
>
> > IFR forecast along his route. Freezing mist and fog changing to
freezing
> > rain up by me.
>
> Now, that's a horse of a different color...
>
> --
> Peter

[[email protected]]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>
> Damn. Of course, the good news is that my plane didn't become a blow-torch
> in flight, as it very well could have on our next flight. Nothing like
> 1500 degree gases 4 inches from gas and oil lines.
>

It's a good thing he caught it on the ground. I had one of my
stacks break off at the flange a few years back and had to glide 5
miles back to the airport for a deadstick landing. The engine only
ran for about 20 seconds after the break before I shut it down, but in
that short time it seriously scorched the cowl and several plug wires.
Super hot gasses under the cowl can be a very bad thing.

Dawley is a great place for exhaust. It's hard to tell their
"overhauled" exhaust system from a brand new one.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

[Dan Luke]

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

> Had my A&P install my new whiz-bang Iridium fine wire plugs yesterday,

Why did you go to the f w plugs?

[Dave Stadt]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Jay Honeck wrote:
> >
> > Damn. Of course, the good news is that my plane didn't become a
blow-torch
> > in flight, as it very well could have on our next flight. Nothing like
> > 1500 degree gases 4 inches from gas and oil lines.
> >
>
> It's a good thing he caught it on the ground. I had one of my
> stacks break off at the flange a few years back and had to glide 5
> miles back to the airport for a deadstick landing. The engine only
> ran for about 20 seconds after the break before I shut it down, but in
> that short time it seriously scorched the cowl and several plug wires.
> Super hot gasses under the cowl can be a very bad thing.
>
> Dawley is a great place for exhaust. It's hard to tell their
> "overhauled" exhaust system from a brand new one.
>
> John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

When Dawley gets done there isn't much of the original left. They do
excellent work.

[Nathan Young]

On 28 Dec 2005 14:17:15 -0800, "
> wrote:

> It's a good thing he caught it on the ground. I had one of my
>stacks break off at the flange a few years back and had to glide 5
>miles back to the airport for a deadstick landing. The engine only
>ran for about 20 seconds after the break before I shut it down,

How did you recognize the failure? What were the symptoms?

Thanks,
Nathan

[Flyingmonk]

Hey Jon, what does 1.8 AMU tranlate to in US$ terms? :^)

[BTIZ]

be glad he found that bad muffler.. could have been CO2 in the cabin..
BT

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:efwsf.439971$084.168955@attbi_s22...
> No, not *that* down...
>
> Had my A&P install my new whiz-bang Iridium fine wire plugs yesterday, and
> sent him on a chase for that pesky oil leak.
>
> So what did he find? A cracked exhaust pipe, right at the weld in the
> "gatherer" (where the three pipes come together).
>
> Then, when we pulled the thing off, we found the inside of the muffler
> rotted away.
>
> Damn. Of course, the good news is that my plane didn't become a
> blow-torch in flight, as it very well could have on our next flight.
> Nothing like 1500 degree gases 4 inches from gas and oil lines.
>
> Oh well -- the best news is that (with the exhaust system off) he was able
> to get at the bottom of the engine and tighten up some loose fittings that
> should help alleviate my oil drips. That, and we're replacing the valve
> cover gaskets with neoprene.
>
> It's always *something*, ain't it? Now I get to DRIVE to Wisconsin today.
> 5.5 hours with two kids asking "are we there yet?"
>
> Luckily, Dawley Aviation (the exhaust repair station) is on my way to
> Racine, and I'll be able to swap out my old exhaust system for a "new" one
> without going very far out of my way. Atlas should be back up and running
> Friday.
>
> :-)
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>

[Flyingmonk]

BT wrote:
>be glad he found that bad muffler.. could have been CO2 in the cabin..

Huh? how?

[Dave S]

Flyingmonk wrote:
> Hey Jon, what does 1.8 AMU tranlate to in US$ terms? :^)
>

I thought by its very definition, an AMU was $1000 USD.

Dave

[Jim Burns]

Dawley did both of the exhausts on our Aztec just before we bought it. They
even shortened the drop so they didn't run so close to the cowls. Very nice
work.
Jim

[Montblack]

>> Hey Jon, what does 1.8 AMU tranlate to in US$ terms? :^)

("Dave S" wrote)
> I thought by its very definition, an AMU was $1000 USD.


Aviation Monetary Units

[BTIZ]

oopss.. sorry.. not CO2 (dioxide).. but Monoxide.. a slip of the key
strokes.. dang..

well.. depending on the design.. most mufflers are heat exchangers on single
engine aircraft for cabin heat..

BT

"Flyingmonk" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> BT wrote:
>>be glad he found that bad muffler.. could have been CO2 in the cabin..
>
> Huh? how?
>

[[email protected]]

Nathan Young wrote:
> On 28 Dec 2005 14:17:15 -0800, "
> > wrote:
>
> > It's a good thing he caught it on the ground. I had one of my
> >stacks break off at the flange a few years back and had to glide 5
> >miles back to the airport for a deadstick landing. The engine only
> >ran for about 20 seconds after the break before I shut it down,
>
> How did you recognize the failure? What were the symptoms?
>

It was pretty easy. The engine noise got really loud. Actually, at
first I was convinced that my ANR headset had run out of batteries.
When I realized I wasn't wearing the ANR headset, that's when I knew
something had given out in the exhaust system.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

[vincent p. norris]

>It's always *something*, ain't it? Now I get to DRIVE to Wisconsin today.
>5.5 hours with two kids asking "are we there yet?"

Jay, when I was a young T.A., the prof with whom I shared an office
told me how to cure that.

Give each kid a few dimes (this was in 1958; you might need to use
dollar bills). Every time a kid asks "Are we there yet? " he has to
give you back a dime (or dollar).

Worked like a charm for me.

vince norris

[Jay Honeck]

>> Had my A&P install my new whiz-bang Iridium fine wire plugs yesterday,
>
> Why did you go to the f w plugs?

Cuz my old ones had/have 700 hours on them, and needed to be replaced.

Everyone says fine wire plugs will outlast the engine, so cost-wise it's a
no-brainer.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> be glad he found that bad muffler.. could have been CO2 in the cabin..

Actually, this bad muffler was on the carb heat side of the engine.

Interestingly, Mary *had* commented recently on how it seemed like were
weren't getting as much of an RPM drop during the carb heat test as usual...
The guys at Dawley confirmed that this would be a symptom of a bad muffler.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[[email protected]]

Jim Burns > wrote:
: It's been a rotten early winter for flying up here in the midwest. Repeated
: systems of low clouds, ice, drizzle, freezing rain, or snow and wind with no
: breaks between them.
: Jim

Tell me about it. I spent 5 extra days in Milwaukee after Christmas trying to
get back to Virginia. Just got back yesterday. Really low MVFR/IFR with ice in the
clouds through from IA to PA for days.

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

[Jim Burns]

You should see today!!! Hell, I WISH I could see today!!!
KATW and out my window 031945Z 00000KT M1/4SM R03/1200FT FG VV001 01/01
A2988

In about another hour, we'll loose that 1 degree C, and the fog will start
freezing to everything.... again.

Jim

> wrote in message
...
> Jim Burns > wrote:
> : It's been a rotten early winter for flying up here in the midwest.
Repeated
> : systems of low clouds, ice, drizzle, freezing rain, or snow and wind
with no
> : breaks between them.
> : Jim
>
> Tell me about it. I spent 5 extra days in Milwaukee after Christmas
trying to
> get back to Virginia. Just got back yesterday. Really low MVFR/IFR with
ice in the
> clouds through from IA to PA for days.
>
> -Cory
>
> --
>
> ************************************************** ***********************
> * Cory Papenfuss *
> * Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
> * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
> ************************************************** ***********************
>

[JJS]

"Jim Burns" > wrote in message ...
> You should see today!!! Hell, I WISH I could see today!!!
> KATW and out my window 031945Z 00000KT M1/4SM R03/1200FT FG VV001 01/01
> A2988
>
> In about another hour, we'll loose that 1 degree C, and the fog will start
> freezing to everything.... again.

The high was 82 deg. f. here today. (NW Oklahoma)... on the 3rd of January. We've had two weeks of unseasonably
warm weather. Of course everything is so dry that there are wild prairie fires raging in the area. Winds are
gusting to 40. They just evacuated a small town to the northwest of us. We're about 12 inches behind normal on
rainfall and we only get about 20 per year. I'd trade some warmth for some moisture!

Joe Schneider
N8437R



----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
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----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

[Jay Honeck]

> I'd trade some warmth for some moisture!

Well, Joe, after the coldest early December in history, Iowa has had weeks
of 38 degree mist and fog.

All of our 18 inches of snow is gone, everything is a muddy mess -- and the
only people flying are airline pilots.

(And even THEY couldn't get into CID on Monday. We had two guests arrive a
day late, because their plane shot two unsuccessful ILS approaches before
returning to MSP for the night.)

The relative humidity has been pegged at close to 100% for days now. It's
like a giant, wet (and cold) blanket...

Our last fly-in guest arrived right after Thanksgiving. I'll take some of
your dry conditions, please!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[RST Engineering]

I dumped the 5" rain gauge 4 times in the last two weeks and I just got
another 3" yesterday. Not that I'd trade water for fire, mindya, but
somewhere in between there has to be a happy medium.

Jim



"JJS" <jschneider@remove socks cebridge.net> wrote in message
...
>
> "Jim Burns" > wrote in message
> ...
>> You should see today!!! Hell, I WISH I could see today!!!
>> KATW and out my window 031945Z 00000KT M1/4SM R03/1200FT FG VV001 01/01
>> A2988
>>
>> In about another hour, we'll loose that 1 degree C, and the fog will
>> start
>> freezing to everything.... again.
>
> The high was 82 deg. f. here today. (NW Oklahoma)... on the 3rd of
> January. We've had two weeks of unseasonably warm weather. Of course
> everything is so dry that there are wild prairie fires raging in the area.
> Winds are gusting to 40. They just evacuated a small town to the
> northwest of us. We're about 12 inches behind normal on rainfall and we
> only get about 20 per year. I'd trade some warmth for some moisture!
>
> Joe Schneider
> N8437R
>
>
> ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet
> News==----
> http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+
> Newsgroups
> ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption
> =----

[George Patterson]

RST Engineering wrote:

> I dumped the 5" rain gauge 4 times in the last two weeks and I just got
> another 3" yesterday. Not that I'd trade water for fire, mindya, but
> somewhere in between there has to be a happy medium.

There's a good reason that "weather" is a curse word in German.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

[George Patterson]

Martin Hotze wrote:

> hu? not that I know of.

Well, that's what I get for listening to my German professor.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

[Markus Voget]

George Patterson > wrote:

> There's a good reason that "weather" is a curse word in German.

Is it really? That's news to me, a native German.
It seems plausible, however, that you meant "Sch...wetter" (one word) which
translates as "sh..ty weather" (two words) in English... :-)

Greetings,
Markus

[john smith]

> There's a good reason that "weather" is a curse word in German.

The German word for people has several connotations, but I am not aware
of any associated with the word for weather.

[Ross Richardson]

I give anything for some of that rain. In the last several days I have
flown over some of our wildfire areas. Remember the town of Ringgold,
TX, it is 60% gone. More low humidity and high winds are forecasted
during the next week.

Ross

George Patterson wrote:

> RST Engineering wrote:
>
>> I dumped the 5" rain gauge 4 times in the last two weeks and I just
>> got another 3" yesterday. Not that I'd trade water for fire, mindya,
>> but somewhere in between there has to be a happy medium.
>
>
> There's a good reason that "weather" is a curse word in German.
>
> George Patterson
> Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
> your slightly older self.

[Matt Whiting]

RST Engineering wrote:
> I dumped the 5" rain gauge 4 times in the last two weeks and I just got
> another 3" yesterday. Not that I'd trade water for fire, mindya, but
> somewhere in between there has to be a happy medium.

I think that is called Hawaii.


Matt

[[email protected]]

By the time my kids were about 5, I could give each one of them a road
map. "You tell me where we are and how long before we get there!" I had
to do some explaining at first, but they got into it.

[Roger]

On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 09:53:40 -0800, "RST Engineering"
> wrote:

>I dumped the 5" rain gauge 4 times in the last two weeks and I just got
>another 3" yesterday. Not that I'd trade water for fire, mindya, but
>somewhere in between there has to be a happy medium.

Be happy you are not on the NW Coast.
Today was the first really nice day we've had in about a month and we
had company. <sheesh>

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
>
>Jim
>
>
>
>"JJS" <jschneider@remove socks cebridge.net> wrote in message
...
>>
>> "Jim Burns" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> You should see today!!! Hell, I WISH I could see today!!!
>>> KATW and out my window 031945Z 00000KT M1/4SM R03/1200FT FG VV001 01/01
>>> A2988
>>>
>>> In about another hour, we'll loose that 1 degree C, and the fog will
>>> start
>>> freezing to everything.... again.
>>
>> The high was 82 deg. f. here today. (NW Oklahoma)... on the 3rd of
>> January. We've had two weeks of unseasonably warm weather. Of course
>> everything is so dry that there are wild prairie fires raging in the area.
>> Winds are gusting to 40. They just evacuated a small town to the
>> northwest of us. We're about 12 inches behind normal on rainfall and we
>> only get about 20 per year. I'd trade some warmth for some moisture!
>>
>> Joe Schneider
>> N8437R
>>
>>
>> ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet
>> News==----
>> http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+
>> Newsgroups
>> ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption
>> =----
>

[Gene Seibel]

I have added a handy-dandy AMU to $US converter to my website at:

http://pad39a.com/gene/amu.html

;)

--
Gene Seibel
Tales of Flight - http://pad39a.com/gene/tales.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

[Flyingmonk]

Thank you Gene, Dave and Montyblack.

Montblack, I knew it was "Aviation Monetary Units ", but didn't know
how much. Now I know it is $1,000.00. Gene, if the ratio is 1 to
1,000 I wont need a calculator thank you. :^)

Bryan "The Monk" Chaisone

[[email protected]]

: Montblack, I knew it was "Aviation Monetary Units ", but didn't know
: how much. Now I know it is $1,000.00. Gene, if the ratio is 1 to
: 1,000 I wont need a calculator thank you. :^)

Maybe that ratio is a poor choice for aviation. At least in the U.S. I don't
think there's a *single* aviation standard that uses metric. I vote for $500:$1... :)

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

[Bob Noel]

In article >,
wrote:

> : Montblack, I knew it was "Aviation Monetary Units ", but didn't know
> : how much. Now I know it is $1,000.00. Gene, if the ratio is 1 to
> : 1,000 I wont need a calculator thank you. :^)
>
> Maybe that ratio is a poor choice for aviation. At least in the U.S. I
> don't
> think there's a *single* aviation standard that uses metric. I vote for
> $500:$1... :)

how about $1012 instead?

--
Bob Noel
goodness - the NFL officials are making
the NHL officials look like geniuses

[[email protected]]

: > think there's a *single* aviation standard that uses metric. I vote for
: > $500:$1... :)

: how about $1012 instead?

Well, the english units are usually based on simple integer math... it's just
not consistent. Fractions are acceptable... So, 500:1 makes for a fairly easy
computations (like cups/gallon = 2x2x4:1), but still doesn't allow for simple decimal
movement. Just annoying enough...

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

[Ray Andraka]

wrote:
> : > think there's a *single* aviation standard that uses metric. I vote for
> : > $500:$1... :)
>
> : how about $1012 instead?
>
> Well, the english units are usually based on simple integer math... it's just
> not consistent. Fractions are acceptable... So, 500:1 makes for a fairly easy
> computations (like cups/gallon = 2x2x4:1), but still doesn't allow for simple decimal
> movement. Just annoying enough...
>
> -Cory
>
In that case, maybe it should be $1200:1. Inflation hits us again!

[Bob Noel]

In article >,
wrote:

> : > think there's a *single* aviation standard that uses metric. I vote for
> : > $500:$1... :)
>
> : how about $1012 instead?
>
> Well, the english units are usually based on simple integer math...
> it's just
> not consistent.

5280 ft to a mile (or about 6030 ft to a nautical mile)

12" to a foot

3 feet to a yard


$500:1 is just way too simple.

:-)

--
Bob Noel
goodness - the NFL officials are making
the NHL officials look like geniuses

[[email protected]]

: 5280 ft to a mile (or about 6030 ft to a nautical mile)
OK... you got me on that one.

: 12" to a foot

: 3 feet to a yard

Yeah... relatively simple integers... especially around base 12 (3x12"/yard).
I think $1200 fits the bill... although maybe a touch too big. There *are* a lot of
things you can do for less than $1200. Nothing major, but it reduces the fractional
AMUs for things like tire replacements, etc.

-Cory



--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************