Going to Work

Bruce asked if we could get an earlier start. He would be checking in at work and wanted to get as much time in as feasible before going into the office. I set my alarm for 0dark-thirty and got up to do the preflight planning. The weather looked good for early morning but winds would be picking up later in the day. It was a good decision to go early. As I scanned the NOTAMS I found one a bit different for Plant City. I'll watch out for that.

The flight went well. We accomplished everything on my agenda and headed back to KVDF to take a break. Bruce was ready for more so I planned to give him an introduction to the landing pattern. Bad decision. Those gusty winds came in sooner than anticipated and made all of the local airports unusable for pattern practice. However it was an opportunity to review procedures and radio calls. We departed VDF and went over to PCM and did a 45° entry.  All of his calls were good and he did a nice job with the pattern, although it wasn't fair to have him turn on final with winds gusting to 18kts. We "shared" the landing and taxied back for takeoff. We bounced a bit on the departure and made our way back home. Another opportunity to practice procedures in the pattern ended with a full stop landing. Good effort today.

I still had the intermittent GPS problem. So after the debrief I brought Sally back to the hangar for some trouble shooting. After a few tightened connectors and some strategically placed tie-wraps I got the purple GPS needle back on the HSI.

Just maybe I got it fixed. Bruce and I are scheduled for an early flight tomorrow, I can check it again in the morning.*

*Saturday Morning Update: It works! After a short flight with a number of landings the GPS interface to the Dynon Smart Aviation Bus (DSAB) stayed strong and consistent.

Reference: User guide