courierguy wrote:They started moving dirt on a new CAT Equipment shop just a couple miles down the road from my crane yard, and right on the road I drive every time I come into town. A 15 million dollar project, they will probably be a few random jobs for my small crane if I get my foot in the door. SO....I stopped by around 10:30 in the morning the other day, glad handed the superintendent in the mobile office (FREE aerial pictures! Just give me your email address, and oh yeah my crane yard is right down the street, have a card.)

As it turned out, my timing was perfect, less then two hours later I emailed him this shot and others, pretty good service for free. It's all lava rock there, right under a few feet of dirt, they'll be blasting before long. He'll continue to get pictures whether I get any work out of it or not. Part of the contractors deal with CAT: ONLY CAT equipment will be used by the subs, no Case, John Deere, or what have you, they take care of their own.




Then I flew the 5 minutes back home, and ripped my panel out. Freaky, to go from a flying aircraft to this in a couple hours! But it's all cleaned out and coming back together nicely, and I'm pretty sure I can pull it off.


I started this spring, and got held up by waiting on my new GRT Mini (NOT a full blown glass panel, just airspeed, altimeter, compass, and slip indicator) and flying too much, so I half assed it all summer with a jury rigged panel, half old and half new. Now in a few days (?) I'll have the new carbon one with the S-7 mod glare shield that S-7 modder Joel Milloway came up with (much deeper panel and oriented much better so your instruments don't reflect in the windshield, plus a little top dashboard). NO steam gauges now, I pulled the round engine gauges earlier this year when I got my GRT EIS 200, with the Mini's arrival the airspeed, altimeter, and VSI are outa there. So bigger panel with fewer gauges, should be room to spare. All this is being done for weight and simplicity, not more capability or a gee whiz factor. Between the Earth X battery, the half pound MGL radio/intercom, the mechanical master switch instead of electric, and new panel I am dropping about 20 lbs, and all of it up front pretty much.

Barnstormer wrote:Friend just bought a SuperCub and stuck 31's on it. Took him out and introduced him to the local places. He's brand new at off-airport (and he needs to add brake boosters now) so he's only doing the easy stuff. Of course we had to do the waterfall. Finally, someone to play with.

Barnstormer wrote:Friend just bought a SuperCub and stuck 31's on it. Took him out and introduced him to the local places. He's brand new at off-airport (and he needs to add brake boosters now) so he's only doing the easy stuff. Of course we had to do the waterfall. Finally, someone to play with.

Barnstormer wrote:Friend just bought a SuperCub and stuck 31's on it. Took him out and introduced him to the local places. He's brand new at off-airport (and he needs to add brake boosters now) so he's only doing the easy stuff. Of course we had to do the waterfall. Finally, someone to play with.

corefile wrote:

Barnstormer wrote:Friend just bought a SuperCub and stuck 31's on it. Took him out and introduced him to the local places. He's brand new at off-airport (and he needs to add brake boosters now) so he's only doing the easy stuff. Of course we had to do the waterfall. Finally, someone to play with.

WOW.. that is a great picture. When people ask why you fly, you should just whip out this photo, nuff said! Is that water deep enough to dive into?

Barnstormer wrote:Friend just bought a SuperCub and stuck 31's on it. Took him out and introduced him to the local places. He's brand new at off-airport (and he needs to add brake boosters now) so he's only doing the easy stuff. Of course we had to do the waterfall. Finally, someone to play with.