Simple & Cheap Tricks for your plane

A few more tricks that come to mind:

- Someone may have already mentioned this, but a permanent marker (Sharpie)
touches up the paint on your panel easily and perfectly. (It also works as
a temporary cosmetic fix on chipped wing-walk material.)

- Hairspray dissolves ink on vinyl or leather.

- A cheap sleeping bag and two straps with velcro can be used to make a
custom-fitted cowl cover for less that $25.

- If you don't have cylinder heaters, lay a trouble light on top of the
engine, and lay a sleeping bag over the cowl. Combined with a sump heater,
you will have 85 degree oil at every start.

- A temperature-sensitive cube (comes on at 35, goes off at 40) can be used
to control your Tannis heater in your hangar.

- Metal tape (NOT duct tape) makes a great oil cooler baffle in winter.

- Fill all the little gaps in your engine baffling with high temperature
RTV. You'll see you CHTs go down noticeably.

- Silicone spraying your yokes will make your landings better.

- Labeling your tow bar with your name and airport identifier is a good
idea.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article 8RYUb.234255$I06.2627994@attbi_s01, Jay Honeck
wrote:

- Silicone spraying your yokes will make your landings better.

Is that so when you pull all the way back it slips out of your fingers
just at the moment of touchdown? ;-)

Is that so when you pull all the way back it slips out of your fingers
just at the moment of touchdown? ;-)

Hmm. Okay, maybe that should read "Silicone spraying your yoke *shafts* will
help your landings"?

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

- A Tuffy (mesh diswashing scrubber) in the air vent tubes to keep the air
flowing and the bees out.

- A low-milliamps voltage regulated 13.4 volts trickle charger wired in to the
"keep alive" breaker (clocks and such) to keep the battery going between long
periods of aircraft disuse. It makes it much easier to use if you remove the
cigarette lighter and replace it with a little 2.1mm power connector tied in to
the keep alive circuit.

- A trouble light on the top of the cylinders and an oil dipstick warmer for
winter easy starts (remove before flight {;-) )

- A long (repeat LONG) wooden dowel marked off in PENCIL in 5-gallon increments
to dip each tank. The LONG part keeps it from falling into the tank. Pencil
will not dissolve in fuel; ink will. Do NOT varnish or finish as you will not
be able to read the dip level.

- Small USA and state flags with knotted rubber bungees (or VERY heavy rubber
bands) to tie to the prop. (Comes in very handy for campaigning, too!!!) The
lateral curvature of the prop keeps them from blowing off.

- For emergency high-wing ferry use, a small aluminum bracket drilled out to
the size of the tie-down bolt, with a BNC connector and a rubber duck antenna
mounted to the plate and strung in to the cockpit along the strut with STRING
(not abrasive ribbed nylon) ties will serve as a decent temporary com antenna.

....

Jim


"Jay Honeck"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-A few more tricks that come to mind:
Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

- Small USA and state flags with knotted rubber bungees (or VERY heavy
rubber
bands) to tie to the prop. (Comes in very handy for campaigning, too!!!)
The
lateral curvature of the prop keeps them from blowing off.

I've re-read this several times, and I still don't get it.

What do the flags do? Is this a patriotic display? Or a way you can find
your plane more easily in the crowd?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay, It would be great to place these on your web site. Some are just
great to save.

I place a trouble light on the rudder peddels and let the warm air get
up under the panel to keep the instruments a little warmer when I use
the engine preheater.

I really liked the idea to mark the valve stem so you know where it is
under the wheel covers. I would have never thought of that. I just stick
my fingers up under there and roll the plane.

Ross

"Ross Richardson" wrote in message
...
I really liked the idea to mark the valve stem so you know where it is
under the wheel covers. I would have never thought of that. I just stick
my fingers up under there and roll the plane.

Neat aerobatic trick if you can do it.

Paul