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CBarber

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Everything posted by CBarber

  1. I'm considering the left side stick conversion from the yokes in my Velo I cant complain about the yokes. They work well. Reality is, I cant find the time to get the new engine installed, let alone modifying something that works. I have noted I almost alway fly with my left hand on the yoke as my right hand is often on the throttle. The yoke accommodates that well even though a side stick would free up some panal space. My latest panel mod has a 7 inch Dynon over the yoke and a 10 inch dynon in the middle (with enough room or a second 7 inch Dynon over the right yoke. I'm also a right handed person, and even though I'm not instrument rated, I like having the freedom of my right hand. Even though there may be a cool factor of the Velocity standard center stick, it never appealed to me. Those who use it seem to think the plane is stable enough that momentarily removing their hand from the stick to jot down a clearance....or whatever, is not a big issue. Just bugs me a bit.....
  2. I flew my Velocity for about 15 hours with the Mazda. It was smooth and fast. I used the inflight adjustable IVO prop. I even had cooling licked. However, I was having to tinker a lot. The first time I took it out of the pattern to a nearby airport, I lost the engine when about to enter the pattern....came down fast, with the wind, threw down the speed brake and even remembered to use the rudders as "brakes". No injury and no damage....even started back up and taxied to the tie down. While that turned out to be a clogged fuel line and not specifically rotary related, it did give me pause. So, at around that time I had some money fall out of the sky, so before I did something stupid with it like invest or pay off bills, I bought an aircraft engine (that's another story where since I mentioned I had turboed the rotary, the guy convinced me to go with the Continental TSIO-360..... then the cost increased by about $10K...to almost the point of a new Superior .... or flavor of the day....took over a year for delivery and THEN the A&P went to federal prison for selling an unairworthy prop as airworthy......but that's another story) I still like the rotary, a lot. However, I put a LOT of time in figuring things out. With my knowledge today, I think I could get it to work as a good alternative engine. But, that's after years and years of trial and error. One of my key factors in finally abandoning the rotary, other than realizing my original goal was to have what I hope to be a safe and reliable airplane and not just prove the rotary as a viable option, was the retirement of Tracy Crook, the maker of the PSRU and electronics. Tracy was the first to tell you his stuff was not plug and play...and boy, did that turn out to be true. My ignorance combined with that created a large learning curve. Dont get me wrong, even with some serious frustration, I really enjoyed the process. Still do. I crave going out and working at the hangar. It would have been easier, and I would have likely been flying the last several years if I had not convinced myself that spending a bit over a period of time on the rotary made sense. I should have likely just saved during that same period of time and bought a Lyc instead. Hopefully soon, I will fire up the Conti for the first time and hopefully, and with solid learning and experience, I will have that fast, cool, safe and reliable Velocity I crave. All the best, Chris Barber Houston
  3. For those playing here for a while, just an FYI, after removing it a few years back, I sold my 13b, Fred Breeze engine mount and RWS EC2 to a nice professor from Minnesota for his Cozy. He did a road trip down to pick it all up earlier this week. While I still love the rotary... and still think it is the right alternative, I got tired of the development and tinkering and had to remember my goal was not to prove the rotary a viable alternative engine but was to have what is hopefully a fast, safe, reliable and efficient airplane. Now, back to my TSIO-360 install. ? All the best, Chris Houston
  4. Wahooo, another member of "Team Dynon". I figure the more of us there are, the more likely they will stay viable and provide solid service and improved product. Chris
  5. What does the Dynon not offer as a whole system? Unless you are talking about current availability, which I can understand. I really do not need more than a VFR platform right now and I hope/intend to upgrade as my need develops and matures. Heck, I just need to actually fly I really like what Dynon states they plan to do. While I too have become jaded to "vaporware", Dynon seems to have a good track record of producing what they say they will....even if some of it, as they readily admit (on other forums), has taken longer than they had hoped. For whatever reason, I really like that they intend to add radio's. Maybe it is G100 or OP envy. Also, it would free up some room from my current duel K-125's should I chose to take them out (?). Dynon does have a "working on" and propossed feature list on their site should it be of interest. I read the links that were posted here. While there are some valid points, I also think many state as fact what is obviously opinion. Such is the nature of the online beast. I do tend to become loyal to products, sometimes, perhaps foolishly. Dynon, so far has garnered my loyalty. I was suprised to read a post that they do not answer their phones since the times I have called, being aware of the two hour time difference, they have not only answered, but actually directed me to the proper person to speak with or just answered the question I posed. They have also responded to my emails promptly. However, this is an area, whether answering the phone or returning them that many drop the ball on. Take if for what you will. Ok, I attached a picture of my new co-pilot at the controls, but ONLY to show the picture of my old panel where the D-100 was mounted. I have removed it, reglassed it all (still need to sand) and will be expanding the cutout for the SV-700, which is slightly larger than for the D-100 but the SV does not require a mounting tray as seen here for the D-100. I have still yet to have the opportunity to boot up my SkyView and know that just because it looks pretty out of the box does not neccessarily translate to real world use, but I will likely share my imppression regardless Like you, I do not mind...actually kinda like that one manufacturer produces most my stuff. I have some faith in the ability to intergrate rather than it being piecemeal. I do understand the concern of having all your eggs in one basket but again, I persoanally think this MAY be majoring in the minor. Also, I think there are various options for a secondary source of information should everything go "belly up". Maybe I have had to piecemeal things together too much in the past and think one trusted source is a bit more eligant. I do think most of the companies are compitant, it is just the flavor you prefer....of course most of us have the recent memory of the gee wiz factor that faded with Blue Mountain. Good intent if not so good execution, if I understand correctly. FWIW. All the best, Chris Barber Houston, GSOT
  6. I am learning that more everyday. Of course I must be a terrible dad, I stated he was 13 weeks old, he is actually 9 weeks old. Geeeesh. Guess all the late nite's up with him make it seem longer. I thought I was past my sleep deprivation days when I passed the bar exam......NOT:D Happy New Year all. All the best, Chris
  7. Kewl. I look forward to getting to boot mine up. Something to look forward to. Actually, this is my first and ONLY child (I will likely get clipped in the new year.....dang, I do consider y'all all friends and am in overshare mode:rolleyes: ). The mother is in federal prison and is a convicted con artist. NOT a joke. Yeah, I was conned as where many others to the tune of Millions. Kinda a mini-Madoff. EVERYTHING she ever told me was a lie, EXCEPT she was pregnant with my child and she told some other poor slob he was his son too as she tried to extort money out of him. Me being a cop and an attorney must have looked great on paper to her and provided her credibility when she had NONE. She was a camilion and good at what she did....pure deception personified. Live and learn. But, Charles David "Tiberious;) " Barber, "Charlie", IS my son. 15 of 15 DNA markers were identicle. He is 13 weeks now. At 48 years old, I never wanted to be a parent, BUT I DO want my son. He warms my heart. He is in my arms at this very moment, finally sleeping. I expect him to know how to tune a rotary by his first birtjday:cool2:.. ..solo my Velocity soon after that....then, star QB in college, then NFL, then youngest US President (to actually honor the Constitution:irked: )...then on to NASA to be first man on Jupiter. UH, too much....maybe a BIT too ambitious ?????? Yeah, NASA should be first THEN the President thing....Yeah. Oh well. I am looking forward to getting back on task with the Velocity. I have missed her. All the best, Chris Barber Houston, GSOT Oh, the Tiberious part is a joke, but a tip of the hat to James T. Kirk and for those in the know.
  8. I recieved my SkyView 7 inch (the yoke in my Velocity prevents the larger unit) about four days ago. I ordered it the day they became available but due to the influx of orders the shipping was delayed a bit. I believe they are up to speed now and the folks at Dynon kept me in the loop and were very considerate in their dealings with me. They have had exceptional customer service since my first exposure to them in 2002 at Osh. They treated me respectfully as a potential new customer back then and was one of the reasons I purchased their D100. I sold my D100 to a Cozy builder about a month ago which helped me with the SkyView purchase. There was nothing wrong with the D100 I just wanted the Skyview. I got a good price that hopefully gave the buyer some satisfaction too. It was a bit more than the half new price of the D100 that Dynon is offering to folks who upgrade, but well under the new price of the D100. So hopefully it was a good deal for both of us. The quality seems great, however, I have not yet booted it or had a chance to play with it as of yet since my project has been on hold while the city repaired the roof on the hangar, finally, following Hurican Ike. Also, I have a new baby (as oppossed to the "old" babies), a two month old son. As a single father (mother is not in the picture), my time comes in spurts. The hangar came ready to move back into on the 23rd and I should be able to start moving back in later today or tomorrow. Once that happens I hope to check out the SkyView. Also, Dynon has posted several new videos going over the products various featurs. http://dynonavionics.com/docs/SkyView_Video.html All the best, Chris Barber
  9. Be careful. I had more trouble than described and I have a couple of pretty substantial scratches as a result. I have since learned that you are not suppossed to leave the spraylot on for extended periods of time. Over a year, IIRC. Also, exposure to sunlight will make it much harder to remove. Mine suffered from both time and some sun. I added new spraylot over the old as well as soaked it. Goofoff (sp?) helped but it was still very tedious for me. All the best, Christopher Barber Houston, GSOT
  10. I sold my Dynon D-100 last week to a Cozy builder and ordered the 7 inch SkyView the day it was released. They sent me a nice email stating it was to ship in 5-7 days....which is right about now. So, when it arrives, I will be happy to share my playing with it if anyone is interested. I went with the 7 inch since my Velocity came with yokes and the ten inch was too big.....also the ten inch is $900 more. I had nor reason to upgrade...on a non flying plane except, well, I wanted it All the best, Chris
  11. No kidding. It seems as if I have just found this forum and was a complete noob. Now, about seven years later (give or take), I feel as if I am one of the veterans. My plane is even pretty darn close to flight;) Even though my build is halted, for the most part, due to the City of Houston kicking us out of our hangar for a while during the repair of the roof, a result of Hurricane Ike. Not at a complete stop though, I hope. I think I can get a lot of my avionics wired up on my kitchen table, since my Velocity panel was removed before I placed my baby....uh, I mean plane on the big lonely ramp all tied down. It is the first time she has been out of a nice, secure hangar <sniff>. So, may we have an update? Please. All the best, Chris Barber Houston, GSOT
  12. I am so sorry for y'all's loss. Chris
  13. age doesn't make you old, regrets make you old! Wow...I really like that expression. Nice All the best, Chris
  14. I tried posting this to the FlyRotary list too, but cannot get the pictures to post, so I am cross posting here with the picturs. Even though this issue is with my rotary powered Velocity, it applies to all engines, espcially those with composite fuel tanks....and those that have had to rebuild 'ema....like John Slade and I. I went out to the hangar after my duty shift of "protecting and serving" was over, as I try to do most nights. It is amazing how productive I can be not getting there until about 11:30pm when there is not one to interrupt. I concede, I like the interruptions, at times, when I am out there during the day, but, they are still interruptions <g>. Anyway, after doing some dry installs of my glare shield over my IP I decided to push the bird out on the ramp and start her up. I am doing much better, but am having some continued intermedant issues with my electrics. It may just be down to some bad crimps on some switches. Donno yet, but I do seem to have my charging issues on my duel alt/duel bat Z-14 Aeroelectric set-up do ok since I got one of the regulators back from B&C after them repairing it. For those of you keeping up, yes, I am cranking/running my really loud airplane up well after 11:30 pm. Sometimes around 1:00am or so. My hangar is WELL away from residences and even at this late hour military and corp jets come and go at EFD (Ellington) at all times. So, I decided to see what "issues" I could discover tonight and try to find a cause for. The intermedet electrical issues are getting better, but still persist. SIGH. Soooo, I cranked it up. It started clean and strong. I improves several wire runs, switches to lights etc and tested everything with the new regulator and things were mostly good. (still a couple of inconsistencies, but improving). It is kinda fun to turn on my landing lights, nave lights, strobes, interior lights, and light strip in the glare shield. It plane was idling well and the temps were holding well. I am trying to idle around 1500 ish rpm in order to keep the Oil Pressure above 35 (the EM2 default). I can go lower but the warning light starts ot flash annoyingly (usually I prefer to wait until the oil temp raises. It does not do so near idle, but if I give her the gas, the oil raises pretty quick). Ok, enough background. I give her the gas to see what happens......BOG, near stall, pulled back on the throttle, still running rough as hell...hey, I just taxied around and it was fine, but now, it will not smooth out. Shut down, restart, same thing. Crap. Hmmmm, John Slades cautionary tale, in which he even mentioned me by name <g> came to mind. I pushed the beast back in the hangar and decided to check the first fuel filter. The symptoms really did seem like a fuel issue. The first inline filter past the sump come off fast and is easy to get to with the lower cowl off. Pulled it off, looked through it....looked good.....shook it....uh oh. a big chunk of something fell from the side. I got two one inches wrenches and unscrewed the filter and a chunk of tank debris fell out. Lots of residue on the side of the housing and in the screen. Took these pix for ya'll's considered amusement <g>. Cleaned it all up, reinstalled. Fired her up again and ran great for a few minutes...until I added power. Then the same thing. Pushed her back in....removed the filter and it was clogged again.....not as bad this time though. So, this time I added several gallons of fuel, disconnected the line to the injectors and secondary filter and ran the pumps for a few minutes (the bog was worse on the secondary pump). Before all the fuel that was being pumped into a gas can was exhausted I killed the pumps. I did notice both pumps were putting out what seemed to be about the same amount when run individually and a stronger stream when they were both on. Even though I know it is impossible to know it was better just by looking at the streams, I put it all back together and cranked it up again and it ran great. After playing a bit, I pushed back into the hangar and dropped the filter again and this time it was still clean. All in all, not a bad night. Please forgive the quality of these pix as they are taken on my phone....a phone that actually works as a PHONE better than it does other stuff...like pictures <g>...well, it does text great. The pix should give you an idea though. You can see the chunk of debris in the foreground. Thanks. Enjoy. All the best, Chris Barber Houston
  15. First...move south. Welcome All the best, Chris Hot and humid Houston....able to build most of the year:cool:
  16. Yep, so far I am a loyal Dynon customer. I may be installing my D-100 into my Velo panel in the next couple of weeks. Even though I have a long way to go before actual use. I just checked out the Dynon page....first item; $1000.00 "rebate" for Blue Mountain customers. Made me grin for some reason. All the best, Chris:cool2:
  17. Thanks Bruce, I am still trying to fight the good fight. Chris
  18. Donno if'n I am the Chris to whom you were referring, but thanks anyway. I thought I recognized that as Dave's turbo rotary. I have not seen close up's before. Back to tuning and preping for flight:cool: All the best, Chris
  19. Agreed. Go to the Fly Rotary list. What a great and helpful group with very specific solutions or at least solid direction. I do believe the ducted fan rotary was a Long. I have a friend here in Houston that has a flying rotary on a LEZ, but I think this question is for a Vari-ez. If I understand correclty, that would make a pretty big difference. Regretably, the guy with the flying rotary LEZ is in Iraq for a while as a civilian contractor. He got the rotary flying on a purchased Long in very short order and flew off the 40 very quickly just before he left. All the best, Chris
  20. Ok, I can't resist, but blaming lawyers for lawsuit ABUSE, is like blaming guns for murder. Someone had to pick up the gun and shoot. In your case, the WIDOW....you know, the person with a DEAD spouse.....AND, should your really want someone to BLAME, you gotta put that on JURORS, IMAO...they are the ones that actually choose the outcome. The winning lawyer just made a more persuasive (I did not say better) argument...exactly as he/she should. I do not think that Deltahawks delays are sole based on fear of litigation. Perhaps, maybe, they just want a well develped product. If they get that, hopefully the concern of lawsuites is minimized. Remember, frivolous lawsuites are already illegal. However, as we know, that does not prevent some from perusing them and this in itself can be very expensive. I too am appauled when a jury delivers a verdict that blames a manufacturer as responsible for a part that they know did not fail...simply due to "deep pockets. As a lawyer I will not just allow the misguieded commentary. I do not expect to change your mine....but I will fight to the death for your right to be wrong:) . Lawyer bashing has become much too cavalier as of late, I am dissappointed at the lazy thinking from which it comes. I am certain, you do not mean to think in this simple of terms. YES, I am a lawyer and proud of the fact, even though I transitioned to a career as a cop a few years ago to fullfill my other career ambition/dream. I am proud of both and find them rewarding. FWIW. All the best, Cpl Christopher Barber, JD
  21. CBarber

    Occupation

    I have been an attorney since the mid ninties. Estate Planning, Elder Law, Probate and some Asset Protection stuff. However, five years ago I persued my other career ambition and became a police officer (my undergrad degree is in Criminal Justice). I am currently a police Cpl and really enjoy it. Still practice, but can be much more selective to the clients I hire. I am basking in the benefits of choice and am choosing not to currently practice much law:cool2: . I expect to do more again down the road though. Was able to buy my Velocity kit when I unexpectanly had two clients pay me for some work....so, before I spent it on something stupid, like bills, I wrote a check to Velocity Inc. All the best, Chris
  22. Yeah, I have been planning to go again when my plane is finished and can be used to fly up there and back. So, I have been "going" next year for years now. <sigh> All the best, Chris
  23. BRS, the company that provides Cirrus, IIRC, spoke to Velocity builders at the Velocity Symposium north of Dallas in 06. They were no cool to the idea, however, they have not been able to ansswer the various issues, such as the prop. Velo was wanting to add it as an optioin, however, it was pricey. Like 20k if memory serves. All the best, Chris
  24. If you make it to the Houston area, we have a long, a vari and even a Velocity (which is mine) out at our hangar Ellington Airport (EFD). I am all but certain my hangar mate and EAA chapter 12 presedent, Richard Sessions, would allow you to sit in his new/old Long EZ should you make it up this way (he just bought it so new to him but it was flown by a NASA astronaut for years. All the best, Chris
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