Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

There is always something going on at my airport. Any of the events I go through in a week are generally nothing compared to a normal story of recent events in hanger flying. We hosted the 18 year old as he finished his flight to all lower 48 states in this piper cub. www.benflies.com I asked a friend about what it is like to fly into the annual EAA event at Oshkosh WI (the busiest avaiation flyin in the world). He said it is a lot like flying into KLZU on a Saturday Afternoon.

We bought a nice American flag, pole and mount for the house. We both like it. We are not sure why the news folks like to talk about folks dishonoring the flag either in a symbolic or real way.

Summer is starting to hit in Georgia. Hot and Humid. Overall, I like the weather here in Duluth. I bought a hand pump about 25 years ago intending to use it at the Victor NY house. I never did, and I have been moving it around all this time. I finally put it to use here in Duluth. It works. But, after 25 years of neglect it needed refurbishing. I had to buy a new leather seal from my Amish friends in Ohio. It also needed other other remediation. It pumps great now, double acting, pumps on both up and down strokes. I installed a bunch of LED lights on the boat. I also draped some flashing LED lights around on it for participating in the "2021 Cardinal Lake Lights Up" event. It was different and fun. I took a pic on my early morning walk this week. The full moon was impressive. Our church is selling part of our property. I am heading up the relocation of the thrift center. It is good creative work turning the lower floor of the Youth Center into retail space.

I snapped this pic of a Barred Owl in my back yard today. They are large, probably about 16 inches tall. I liked it when he starred at me. He is backwards. His head is twisted totally backwards. He twisted both ways for me.

Angie and I participated in a Porsche Club of America (PCA) event this past weekend. They call it a tour. We met up in Norcross and drove together to Road Atlanta in Braselton GA. We did some laps and eventually had lunch in Dahlonega. It was a lot of fun both using the car for what it was designed for and hanging out doing social things like we used to before the pandemic. I also went up in the Piper Warrior as well. Time to get checked out on some other planes. I noticed an interesting spec comparison. My C172N Model has a top speed (Vne) of 182 MPH. The Cayman S has a top speed of 172 MPH.

We just went thru a major reorgization in our flying club. I received a significant dividend as well as other perks. It was a great move to grow the club and make it even more sustainable. I sold "my" 172 into the club as the third aircraft. We are now looking to purchase our 7th aircraft. Our latest plane is a PA-28-236 a Piper Dakota. It is very cool. Aeroventures Great People. Great Club. I will be flying more. It is a great hobby. I didnt get the boat in the water yet. The spirit didn't hit me. For sure though that doesn't mean I am sitting around-- much. I decided to finally hang the two canvas hanging chairs that my late Brother James and late Sister-in-law Mary bought us. I made some great brackets and mounted them very well in the gazebo at the lake behind the house. I also added a wifi repeater. I am proud of how I attached the hippie chairs after thinking about how over the years. Mary, James, your seats are ready.

I went flying again this weekend. I flew up to Anderson SC. They built a whole new terminal since I was there last. It has to be the best General Aviation (GA)terminal I know of. The plane is so much better equipped than years ago. It has an autopilot, ADS-B, and other avionics upgrages including a G5 MFD. With a Garmin 430 and deluxe engine analyzer, it was good before, but now it is excellent. Using the autopilot to help handle the workload really helps in learning the new avionics. It is very impressive seeing the other airplanes overlaid on the chart on my iPad. The boat isnt in the water yet. I will be working to get it in the water on Memorial day at least. It has some very cool LED lights now.