Oil. It’s quite important stuff in engines, especially in aeroplane engines. Considering the only thing keeping us up in the air is the engine it makes sense to keep a close eye on the oil. He who is without oil, shall throw the first rod Compressions 8.7:1 I have an issue with a low oil…
Author: Mike Blackburn
That Sling Smile
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be able to take my friend Ari flying. He may not know it but he’s actually my aviation mentor – one heck of a nice guy who has a knack of thinking about general aviation in ways I haven’t thought of. He’s a commercial instrument rated pilot with more…
Weather 1 – Me 0
I was supposed to fly to Middelburg(FAMB) this afternoon to camp at the AeroClub of SA Airweek being held there this weekend. The weather, it seems, had other ideas. I was delayed by 30min at work this morning and by the time I arrived at the airfield the storm line was developing. I hung around…
Breakfast in Parys
To say that the year thus far has not been great for flying is no understatement. As soon as MGL Avionics opened this year I sent my EFiS in for hardware upgrade and that took 2 weeks – where I (obviously couldn’t fly). As that came back and it was re-installed, the wet season arrived…
Taking Miss Daisy to Springs
I have been looking for an opportunity to take some family members flying in ZU-IBM. There is a heck of a lot going on at the moment with year end functions, prize-givings, concerts and the like and there simply isn’t a lot of time. When the Springs airport fly-in came up though we decided to…
Home – Morningstar to Tedderfield – not so simple
All good things must come to an end and this includes congresses – well, OK, being at a congress (even one dedicated to anaesthetising small people) is not as good as not being at a congress when in Cape Town, but it was still worthwhile. There was a huge amount going on from a social…
Flying to a Congress in Cape Town
Having an aircraft means somewhat more flexibility in terms of using general aviation to get to where you want on (more or less) your own terms. Of course, having an aircraft also means you can make totally financially unjustifiable trips on (more or less) your own terms. I tried to do a long cross country…
A new rating
So I have a new type on my license – and some endorsements to go with it!
I like the night life….
Some of the best video I’ve seen on YouTube of flying is in the evening – after the sun has set. Being able to fly at night obviously extends the useful flying day and also improves the options for waiting out weather and other potential delays. I’m a firm believer in having options to decrease…