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Machinery Infatuation

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I bought my first NEW piece of farm machinery. I am not sure if this is a failure or a success, but it is different. I picked up a NEW Rotary Cutter (bush hog, brush hog, mower, etc) from a dealer. It cost me almost as much as the tractor did with its bits of hardware and options. It seems to work well on the CNH Boomer 33. I planned on getting up to NY in the next couple of days, but Gracie has been sick.. she has been up and down. The steroid treatment and a change in diet seem to be helping at this point. Besides hauling the tractor and mower up to NY I have numerous events planned over the next month. I will be in Charlotte for a conference as well as Tucson Arizona and of course other events and activities. I started installing radio equipment in the Humvee. It now has a telescoping 30 foot antenna, a 24 volt to 12 volt converter, a removable SDR radio and some other stuff to be sure. I'd like to get it to the Stone Mountain Hamfest -- thats what i am shooting for. I thr...
Harrison Ford: I have 8 planes, 1 woman By Ruben V. Nepales Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 16:53:00 03/07/2010 Filed Under: Celebrities, Cinema, Entertainment (general), planes LOS ANGELES – Actor-pilot Harrison Ford, asked in our recent interview about how many planes he has, answered with his trademark lopsided grin: “I have one woman but I have eight aeroplanes. The planes have different purposes and the skills required to fly them are different in each case. I’ve always been interested in this continual process of learning and perfecting skills.” Harrison, who can be terse at interviews, was in a good mood in this chat . When a colleague prefaced his question with, “You play a cranky scientist in ‘Extraordinary Measures’ and a cranky TV news anchorman in ‘Morning Glory,’” the actor with the gruff reputation playfully interrupted and quipped to laughter, “Yeah, what about it? Are you getting to something? What’s your point?”
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I had a great flying lesson today. The winds were highly changeable, but mostly cross the runway and a bit from the tail. My throat got dry like the old days. It all builds experience. The weather (to a bystander on the ground) seems perfect for anything. My instructor was saying how people on days like these figure flying must be perfect because of the visibility. Not so! He went on to say "They aren't feeling what we are feeling." I am very grateful of my instructor, all of them. It looks like I will be taking some pics from the air Wednesday. The last of the snow is leaving. We will most likely have a wet snow or two before summer, but the accumulation is over for this year. It appears my blog will be changing in the next two months. I have not decided exactly how yet (but after nearly 1000 posts and almost 10 years) changes in the the hosting environment can be expected. I really appreciate the occasional email that comes in from someone I have never met expressin...
The requirements to obtain a private pilot certificate for "airplane, single-engine, land", or ASEL, (which is the most common certificate) are: * Be at least 17 years old That was easy. * Be able to read, speak, and write the English language That was easy. * Obtain at least a third class medical certificate from an Aviation Medical Examiner (except for glider or balloon) Got it, what a pain in the neck. * Pass a computerized aeronautical knowledge test Passed, done * Accumulate and log a specified amount of training and experience, including the following: o If training under Part 61, experience requirements are specified in Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations section 61.109 including at least 40 hours of piloting time including 20 hours of flight with an instructor and 10 hours of solo flight, and other requirements including "cross-country", 10 hours of solo (i.e., by yourself) flight time in an airplane, including at least I have ...
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The last few days of sunshine has been very welcome. It has been refreshing and rejuvenating. I got a pic of a sundog Friday. I did some solo flight work Saturday. Hopefully, I will have my license in a few months. I was a bit surprised when I went to feed the animals and there was a chicken just as comfortable as could be riding around on Calisto!
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From snowshoeing out back Sunday.
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt. --Shakespeare
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We had quite a bit of heavy-wet snow this week. The drifts got as big as I can remember around here. They got so big the llamas wouldn't go through them. They get nervous when the snow gets deeper than their legs are long. So I had to shovel a way through the drifts for them. Snowshoeing is on the agenda for later today. There is a barbecue grill and a picnic bench totally hidden in that snow.