Two Pilots & an LSW: Nebraska, Ohio, Oh My

I got to run BOB today. It was cloudy and spitting rain and yucky outside, but they got it put back together and I fired up both engines to make sure they still worked. The left one had fuel spraying out of it so they had me shut down asap. Fixed that. Fired it back up and it ran great, mag checks good, all looked good. The right one had smoke pouring out of it, so they had me kill that one and not restart it, and we have some kind of leak by Cylinder #9. But it's a start. The engines started up very nicely and ran smoothly, we just need to fix up a few things. We've got a lot of volunteers working on it, several of them new 'kids', so we're keeping a good eye on them. We need to be able to start training soon, so it needs to be wrapped up and fixed up and running by the end of next week. But it was nice to fire it up and hear it rumble again. :)

Morgan ran me to Bloomington to pick up the Conquest in the 340. Another windy day, of course. I picked it up, flew to Toledo and left it there, while she came and got me, then ran us home to Kokomo. Windy, cloudy, spitting rain, but doable. About 3 hours total and the job was done. We had to be back by noon, because Morgan is moving to her apartment in Cicero today, and had an appointment with the people to let her in to her new place, sign for keys, etc. So that was good. She's moving in some stuff today, then the rest on Sunday, and staying down there from then on.

Kaylee's Jeep was rear-ended while she was just sitting at a stop light. Big work truck saw the turn lane turning, and thought it was his lane too, and accelerated right into the back of her, crushed in the back of her Jeep. So we've been going through their insurance, her car has been in the shop for over a month, and every time they dig in they find more wrong with the car from the impact. The estimate started at $6,000. Then it went to $13k. Steve got a call yesterday that they found more and it was now $21k. Well, the insurance company today called to tell us that they were just going to total her Jeep at this point. It's a leased car, so we're not even really sure how that works or what we'll do. They are paying for the hybrid rental car she's been using, and now is a good time to have a hybrid and do a lot of driving, at least. Saved her some gas. But I don't know if it'll go back to the 'owners' after this, or if there will be an option for her/us to buy it, or if we'd even want to after they fix it all up, or...what. Kind of a bummer, because as Kaylee said, she didn't do anything wrong, she was just sitting there fully stopped at a stoplight minding her own business, and Bam, and now she's out of a car, and had a lot of hassle to go with it, with an uncertain future on vehicles. It's just too bad.

Watched the Artemis II splash down, mostly because there's nothing else on right now. Glad they're home safely and I'm sure it was a heck of an experience. I always wanted to go to space, but that was before I knew I was so claustrophobic. Can you imagine not being able to touch your face? Scratch your nose? Wipe your eye? With that bubble head strapped on? The fact of being unable to do it would make me desperate to do it.

Yesterday was a little more tiring. It was yet another windy day, with some pretty ugly thunderstorms in Nebraska and Iowa. I was flying a guy from Delphi out to Grand Island, Nebraska, way out there, in the C-421 for my first trip in it on my own. Par for the course, my first time in it had all the stuff. My first landing in the thing was a 27 knot 60 degree crosswind on the shorter more narrow runway to start with. Then I had issues with the right engine temps and pressure, and with aux fuel transfer. I almost turned around and went home, but I got it managed. Then the thunderstorms were more than expected. I heard one pilot call in and report that he had just gotten a direct hit by lightning at 13,000'. Another pilot reported large hail. I was like...oh ho ho, let me just scoot a little more to the left of that shit right now. ;) Then I had my first night landing in it, and some IFR, and a little icing, so like I said...all the things, man, all the things. Was glad to get back and write up a report for Steve so hopefully we can start getting some of that addressed.

Landed in the wind in Nebraska, got gas, took off in the wind and now the wind was in my favor. Took me 3.5 hours to get there, took me less than 2.5 to get home. So there. :p

The airplane has some issues. The right engine with a whopping 3 hours on a brand new engine is running too lean. That's not good for it. It's running too hot, it's barking at me on climb-out, it made my oil pressure drop and my oil temp rise, which is a combination that made me think I had an imminent engine failure for awhile there until I got it stabilized. It was not the world's most relaxing flight, I have to admit, but I did get the job done. My next flight in it is supposed to be next week and Steve has been trying to get someone to look at that, but the mechanic who normally does it had a heart attack and can't get to it this week (priorities, man), so we're not sure how it's going to go from here.

I've been working a lot with some warbird guys, getting ready to do some stuff there. Talked to "Sparky" about doing his currency flight in the BT-13. Getting put on the insurance of Bob T's new T-6. He's the not pilot from Fort Wayne who has an airline pilot buddy he wants me to check out in his T-6. I took airline buddy pilot up at an event and let him fly it and had to rescue the takeoff, twice, and the landing. And I was up front. I'm not looking forward to instructing him right now from the back; he had no feel in his feet. I've been talking with the CAF guys about doing their instruction in the C-45, and I have three guys who need initial training, two of whom are going to save our Tour if I can get them done and ready to go. Been working with Ethan and his Conquest again. It's not sold yet, it's at Toledo for some maintenance and then Michigan for some, and THEN they say it'll be sold. We'll see, but at this point I hope so. Just been...busy.

Oh. Cousin Jeff. Not long ago, he got a bill for his ex-wife Cindy's house gas. Don't know why, somebody goofed. He calls them and asks why he's got this bill, they said it was the gas bill for the house, he says he doesn't even live there any more, just shut it off. Cindy was off traveling. We're not sure if he did it from spite or from stupid or from dementia or from a combination of those factors, because they all fit him. When she got home, she came home to no gas, no heated water, etc. She finds out why, and now she's pissed. So she sends Jeff a text that she's been paying his insurance and his cellphone, and she's not doing either one any more, she's canceling them, and if he's going to pull that on her, he's on his own from now on, and she's making sure he's off the house gas bill too. Except he doesn't read his texts from her, he just deletes them. More good decision making. Cindy told Dave & Dawn, our cousins, his sister, that his phone goes off on Wednesday and he'll no longer have a cellphone. Or car insurance. He has no idea. He's diabetic and has undiagnosed dementia. He doesn't take care of himself. He hit a guy on a bicycle with his Suburban, and broke the guy's leg. His driver's license has been revoked and the plates on his truck have been expired. He's now selling the truck at least. Mary Dawn took care of her mother, her father, and her sister, all with dementia or severe mental health issues. For decades of her life. Jeff didn't help her with any of that. Not one little bit, totally left her to it on her own. She's got her own problems now, health and otherwise, and she has said she's done. She's not taking care of Jeff too. He needs to go into nursing home care, but he has no money. So I'm not sure how all of that goes down when you're broke. I guess it means one of these days when he doesn't manage his blood sugar again, he'll go into a coma in his apartment. He made a lot of decisions over the years to isolate away from family and friends. It's a cautionary tale for sure.