You guys know I love out-of-the-ordinary things, and my recent flight review definitely qualifies as one of those!

First, my good friend and excellent flight instructor worked me over in the ground portion of the flight review. Here are some things we covered:

• VFR sectional chart information and interpretation.
• Briefing an IFR approach plate.
• Working a weight and balance for a Bonanza.
• Other useful information.

Then, we flew that amazing tail dragger above… we did steep turns, stalls, slips, landed on 2 grass runways, and returned back to KSHD.

It was such a great flight review and opportunity for continued learning.

Flight reviews are NOT a nuisance… they are a good opportunity to become an even safer and more proficient pilot. So, if YOUR flight review has become just a check mark in the requirement box, maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit for your next one, and find a new flight instructor or do something a little different. I think you’ll be glad you did!

Another recent highlight was an email I received from Craig, a podcast listener… I read his email in this episode, so be sure to listen to the audio. I’m calling Craig and his wife the “Airplane owners of the week!” Here they are:

These two have a really inspiring aviation story… listen to the audio to hear a portion of it. Craig likes to say his wife is the “Chief Pilot” and he’s the “Copilot and Director of Maintenance!”

Another surprise adventure was an opportunity to fly in my friend Bob’s B55 Baron last Saturday… totally unexpected, but it made my day! Thanks Bob!

And back in the shop on a different airplane, I recently cleaned a fuel strainer that looked like this inside:

It made me wonder when this one was last cleaned!

I also got to help the owner of a Zenith 750 who was stranded at our airport the other day with a bad oil leak… check it out:

I helped him install some serviceable oil cooler hoses and he was able to get home to Pennsylvania before the weather hit!

And here’s a puzzler to finish this episode:

I saw this device on an A-35 Bonanza out on the ramp, and I was trying to figure out what it is… if you know, please leave me a voice message over there on the side of the page, or send me and email to dean{at}airplaneownermaintenance{dot}com and let me know what it is. I have a guess, but I’m not totally sure.

Thanks everyone, and have a great week!

Dean Showalter

The post “200 – My Recent Flight Review and Other Adventures” appeared first at AirplaneOwnerMaintenance.com