Kent Ashton

Post your triglyceride levels, or PM them to me, or email Kjashton at Vnet.net. I would like to know what others are seeing. You should go back and watch Professor Sikaris' videos above--he is very easy to listen too and gives about the best explanation of LDL I have seen Saw this stick idea on HBA (h/t Jan Detlefsen) (pic) I think I will try to make one out of hardwood and offset the knob to clear the fuselage side. I was using a clunky DPDT switch in the armrest but I think I can use a simple MOM-off-MOM switch in the stick that actuates little relays to reverse the trim motor.

Barnstormers today: I have seen this one on FB Homebuilt Aircraft Exchange for $15K last year but the seller was a bit of a pill. Strange MLG, doggy panel. He needs to be all smiley-faces to unload this one. "Yes sir, Mr. Buyer sir". 🙂 More pics in the ad BTW, I noticed that Pat Panzara, long-time EAB promoter and editor of Contact Mag died Feb 18 of pancreatic cancer.

Ah. Well, I guess the best way is to Google the N-number or owner. It will often bring up the ownership history at Flightaware or the FAA Registry. This one goes back to the original builder. https://es.flightaware.com/resources/registration/N131PS

No but the quickest way to see if it has already been posted is to do a seller-name search in this topic. Use the Search box in the top-right corner of the page.

Today, no pics

So, I am trying to keep this simple for me and you: Your blood should not have any small dense LDL (sdLDL). sdLDL is spent LDL that has exhausted its load of triglycerides i.e. fats (Trig). It it not recognized by the liver and it hangs around in the blood. But sdLDL particles are so small, they leak into the one-cell -thick endothelium liner of the coronary arteries where it is glycated by sugar and oxidized. Macrophages in the blood love the glycated, oxydized sdLDL particles and engulf them. This leads to the spongy coronary plaques that burst, form a clot, then you're dead. The best measure of whether you have sdLDL in your blood is your triglyceride levels. When Trig is >132 most of the LDL is sdLDL. When Trig. is <89 almost none of the LDL it is sdLDL. Ordinarily, LDL is good, as long as it is not sdLDL After being on a low carb, high fat diet for a couple months, my Trig. have gone from the 120 range to 105 so I am halfway there. This info comes from the vids below. There is a lot to understand but I believe I am starting to understand it. I hope it helps you guys. 🙂

Saw this post from an RV-guy who lost oil pressure on final (low power). It appears he had a small ball of metal keeping the relief ball off its seat. (H/T Craig in Ga.) He reminds not to use a magnet to remove the relief ball.

Check out the POH http://roynouguier.free.fr/vezoman.pdf (pic) No experience in a Vari but I have flown Cozys and and EZ. The most optimist figure is about <1000' feet but it is easy to land long and fast. I would only use that number if you have an airport with clear approaches, experience in the airplane, and can land on speed in the first few hundred feet. I think the 50' obsticle chart is more typical. Defer to the guys who are flying them.

I examined my VDO oil pressure sender which seemed to be sending high readings. It has two wipers that (I suppose) measure a change in resistance as they move along the coils. I saw a bit of wear on one coil (pic 2). Anyway, replacing the sender brought the pressure back to usual. I also tapped on the crankcase where the oil pressure relief ball lives. That might have had an effect too. One time I landed out during a cross country because of a high OP reading. The FBO was very helpful--looked for metal in the oil, cut open the filter, may have even examined the relief ball. Nothing found really, so I took off gingerly and returned home. Changed the sensor later as I recall. I surmise that a Lycoming has very little way to develop high oil pressure. About the only thing is something jamming the relief ball which is unlikely. I questioned if I'd let a plastic oil container ring get in the crankcase but didn't see any evidence. Low OP is another matter. Lots of ways to get that. Had about 750 hours on that sender mounted on the engine mount tubes near the firewall

I would urge anyone taking statins, or suspecting heart problems to look at the Youtube channels "Low Carb Down Under" and search Youtube for Dr. Nadir Ali". I have a friend from my Air Force days, tall, slim, trim, who had heart bypasses. His doctor prescribed a low fat diet and statins. His A1c (blood sugar) went up. Now he is a full-blown diabetic (A1c >6.5) and his doc wants to put him on a more powerful statin but yeah, his LDL came down! My low carb docs on Youtube are very credible and this is just what they say can happen on statins---lots of bad side effects and they do not appreciably improve mortality. In fact, they increase mortality [bad!] in old guys like me. Dr. Robert Lustig, also on Youtube, will scare you straight about sugar and fructose. My G.P. says "don't listen to the internet" but here you are, listening to the internet. Ha! I judge the doctors above as very honest and credible. They are not selling services or diet plans. OTOH, the drug companies are selling $1billion in statins. Who do you trust?

As I understand it, the airplane manufacturers specify very slight differences in rubber composition for vibration control and that's why there are so many different mounts. I think most of us the J-7402-X version sold by Spruce for the O-320s. Just check that your dynafocal cups are the 2 3/4" size. I imagine any isolator for an O-320 engine would work just as well. You might find some on ebay but I'd avoid really old ones. A few years ago, I swapped my top and bottom isolators. Yeah, I am cheap. This PDF gives some info on sizes. https://www.herberaircraft.com/documents/categories/LORD_Engine_Mounts_General_Aviation.pdf

My GP is bothered by me going off statins but he was not interested in the youtube doctors I've learned from. He said "I read the journals" and "don't be your own doctor". Fine, but it shows me he is not open to new information. Ya know, my brother had bypasses at age 50, went on statins, exercised, lost weight, and died in the car leaving his gym. I took them for 11 years and still had a second heart attack. No, I do not trust modern medicine. On a happier note: I was Just talking to a chap about crosswind operations. I try to avoid strong crosswinds but when I encounter them, I try to remember to lineup on the upwind side of the runway, pointed to the downwind side with aileron into the wind. Let the crosswind weathervane the aircraft into R/W alignment. Brake use will increase takeoff roll enormously so try to avoid it. For landing, I fly a full crab until just before touchdown, then kick it straight, make it land before a drift sets in and put aileron into the wind.

A chap here brought this Velocity to my attention. Low price ($73K) but perhaps the condition justifies it: "years of no maintenance entries", "gear repairs by the owner". Pics in the ad but not enough to judge present condition https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Single+Engine+Piston&make=VELOCITY+AIRCRAFT&model=VELOCITY+RG&listing_id=2400723&s-type=aircraft

Today's Barnstormers. No pics.

Seen today. Varieze. N8034U Seller is in Seattle

No need to have the old logbooks--just start new ones and overhaul as necessary. The AWC date is in the FAA records (N122BB, pic) so it could be reissued following an inspection. It appears owner Boydston died in 2010 http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Robert-W.-Boydston-88681516 and this airplane might have gifted to an EAA Chapter. If the chapter got a bill-of-sale or equivalent from whomever disposed of it--and that person had the right to dispose of it--that might satisfy the FAA. It's a pig-in-a-poke but if Boydston's heirs received it through probate, they could legally dispose of the airplane but you would probably have to have a probate record and a bill-of-sale from the heirs to you, the buyer, or to the EAA chapter and then to you. Know in Boydston's in Sedona? 🙂 It is unlikely you would get a repairman's certificate if one was ever issued before. If not it might be possible, depending on the inspector/DAR.

Well recall that Burt’s idea was that you would carry a hand-held radio, turn it off when you got in the air, and fly VFR everywhere, turn it on when needed. This airplane has a built in radio you can leave on the entire flight! 🙂 And, hey, those attitude thingys are expensive!

It surprises me that buyers of Exp-Amateur Built airplanes sometimes don't know their "Operating Limitations". Most original builders know because the FAA shoves them in their epoxy-coated fingers but then they get folded up in a case in the airplane (I hope, although some don't know these must be carried in the aircraft). A friend was contemplating changing his prop. He had not considered that a prop change is a "major change" and that his OLs require test and recertification in his logbook. In fact, he was not sure he had any OLs. We dug them out and his OLs require a 5 hour test and logbook statement after a "major change". A couple of points: Ops limits have changed over the years and the current ones are on the FAA website. If you have very strict OLs, the FAA may give you the newer ones on request. It usually requires a letter to the FSDO and an inspection. I recall an incident where a chap installed a new carb and did the required tests and logbook entries. Sometime later he reinstalled the old carb, then had an insurance claim. The insurance company denied the claim because he did not test/log the reinstalled carb!

This today, Barnstormers. Just thinking how you would price this airplane with an empty panel. That is probably the way to think about it. N89RJ

Hmmm, this question did not pop up in the queue but . . .. You have to satisfy the inspector that you know enough about the project to grant you a repairman's certificate. Is is very subjective for the inspector. If you have taken pics and documented the work you do, I believe most inspectors (FAA/DAR) will not quibble about it. It is always good to investigate your DAR and see what his experience is. There are very hard-nosed types and others who are very cooperative. I have always (three times) gotten good cooperation from my local FSDO but they are not all that way. Generally, it appears to me that if you finish a mostly-completed kit, you can get a Repairman's Certificate. They are concerned about "professional building", i.e. building for hire but they know kits get passed around at different stages of construction. They just want to assure that "51% is built by amateurs for their education and recreation". It is not a hard hurdle to pass. 🙂 Edit: just to be clear, better to call this the "major portion" rule. See 14 CFR 21.191(g) "[A]n aircraft the major portion of which has been fabricated and assembled by persons who undertook the construction project solely for their own education or recreation." https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/21.191 and note that it has nothing to do with getting a repairman certificate. The major portion rule only covers what can be granted an Experimental Airworthiness certificate I have heard of the FAA investigating professional builders and possibly denying AWCs but I have never heard of them denying an AWC otherwise--not to say it's never happened. They seem to want to inspect kit-airplanes for major-portion compliance but plans-built airplanes, psssch. EAA has a pretty good discussion https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-building/BuilderResources/getting-started/the-51-percent-rule

Seen today, Barnstormers. More pics in the ad

Really good price on this Sonerai II (just down the road from me). [ Must. Resist. Another. Airplane.] Actually the thought of having to work through an A&P on the condition inspection every year is what puts me off. Love to try this one out though. I have lost 18 lbs on my low-carb-high-fat diet. PM me if you want to discuss your statins Regarding the Very Eze we have been discussing: the listing ended today with no indication it sold.

Just got this reply from the Registry in OK City to my email question (not my formal request for records): I asked :Re: Reissuing old airworthiness certificate: Order 8130.2F Sec. 27(3) says that a lost A.C. can be reissued if the date of issue of the missing A.C. can be established but I have found that this date is missing from the records for a few aircraft that were flying and formerly had A.C.s. Take for example N67EZ, the current seller does not have the A.C. (it was held/destroyed by a previous owner). There is no A/W date in the database so the FSDO will not reissue the A.C. Can you shed any light on this? Thx" Registry replied: " Mr. Ashton, Any airworthiness inquiries must be directed to your local FSDO." But I know from experience what our local FSDO will say: "No A.C., no record of an A.C. in the online database, No-can-do"

To satisfy my own curiosity, I paid the $8.60 and ordered the records on this "Very EZ" from the registry. There are 49 people watching the Ebay ad. Heck I would buy it myself if I didn't have bikes, cars and airplanes to work on. What amazes me is that the seller is too feckless to document the airplane properly himself. News at 11.

Wait a minute Mike. What proof do you or the FAA have that your airplane ever flew; and I mean _proof_ and not just somebody telling you it flew. We have established that there is no A.C. in the FAA's records. That supports a conclusion that the airplane never flew. Who can prove otherwise?