Above 1200 Sq/FT The Lone Beech Garage (60x46x16)

[sbosecker]

Good luck with the party and hope you have a good turnout.

I’d love to have a nice made in USA hydraulic cart but at the minute in front of my garage is sloped and not much room in my garages so hoping my back and strength doesn’t go south anytime soon.

how does your bride like having her Honda back up and running again?

DrivesItFar,

Thanks! It will be interesting to see how many show up. In addition to the neighbors and a smattering of GJer's there's a group of pilots that used to meet regularly for beer & wings. That's been greatly reduced since COVID started - really just a few guys getting together for social distancing coffee at a local park gazebo. This will be the first time that group has been called to arms in almost 18 months - we'll see how many show up.

My "Made-in-China" hydraulic cart leaks fluid but it is still the handiest thing. Particularly for exactly what I used if for today ...getting a somewhat heavy object unloaded from my truck.

My spouse has been enthusiastically using the del Sol! It's good to have it back in action again. It gets great gas milage and is just the thing for local errands and shopping. It has quite a large trunk for a car its size.

Wish you could join the get-together tomorrow!

Best regards,

Scott

 

[Chrisb62]

Scott,
Wish I was able to attend, sure would love to nose around the shop for a few hours. Hope everyone who shows up has a great time, as well as a safe time.
Chris

 

[Jayman17]

Scott looks like you are all set for your LBG party. I hope a lot of your friends make it and you have a great time.

Jay

 

[Mr.zippy]

Well……how was it? I sure would like to have seen your shop, (and the del sol, tractors, etc.), but I’ll settle for pics!

 

[sbosecker]

Scott,
Wish I was able to attend, sure would love to nose around the shop for a few hours. Hope everyone who shows up has a great time, as well as a safe time.
Chris

Scott looks like you are all set for your LBG party. I hope a lot of your friends make it and you have a great time.

Jay

Well……how was it? I sure would like to have seen your shop, (and the del sol, tractors, etc.), but I’ll settle for pics!

Thanks Guys!

It was a very good time. A short report follows.

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Sunday - November 7, 2021

Yesterday was the much delayed "Lone Beech Garage Open House". Although you think you're all prepared, at the last minute it's not uncommon (for me anyway) to realized a detail had been overlooked.






Exhibit A. Maybe a couple hours before folks were scheduled to arrive, my senile brain realized we didn't have anyplace to put coats and jackets. This was one of the solutions.







A rough count over the course of the afternoon/evening would be about 40 people. I was pleased that Motoman1100 was the Garage Journal Ambassador and made a quick appearance. It was great to see Alan again!

It was, if nothing else, a reminder that we are getting this COVID thing in the rearview mirror. The pilots that were able to attend were pretty insistant that we needed to start our Wings & Beer group meetings again.

When the last guest left I was extremely pleased with how it had all gone down. Other than too much food (I took a couple of unopened COSTCO party trays over to a local Fire Department Station today) it all went about as well as a host could hope for.

I know I had a good time!

Scott

 

[Motoman1100]

"A rough count over the course of the afternoon/evening would be about 40 people. I was pleased that Motoman1100 was the Garage Journal Ambassador and made a quick appearance. It was great to see Alan again!"

Thanks for the shout Scott, your place was on point looking great! I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't stay longer, but after all these years of anticipating a great garage party... I had to run meet a guy to purchase something I bought off of Craigslist. I know you would understand that. HA!

Honestly though, after the holidays, I would love to stop back by to chat, especially about your metal shop area.

Thanks again for the invite.

 

[AZpilot]

Scott,

You do things backwards. Most airline pilots don't get issued a personal flight attendant until after joining an airline. You pre-issued your flight attendant. Forward thinker.

 

[sbosecker]

"A rough count over the course of the afternoon/evening would be about 40 people. I was pleased that Motoman1100 was the Garage Journal Ambassador and made a quick appearance. It was great to see Alan again!"

Thanks for the shout Scott, your place was on point looking great! I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't stay longer, but after all these years of anticipating a great garage party... I had to run meet a guy to purchase something I bought off of Craigslist. I know you would understand that. HA!

Honestly though, after the holidays, I would love to stop back by to chat, especially about your metal shop area.

Thanks again for the invite.

Alan,

You have an open invitation! I look forward to seeing you again.

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Scott,

You do things backwards. Most airline pilots don't get issued a personal flight attendant until after joining an airline. You pre-issued your flight attendant. Forward thinker.

AZpilot,

HA! It's even worse than that... I also married my trophy wife almost 44 years ago.

Best regards,

Scott

 

[drivesitfar]

I waited til I was 32 to get married cause it took me a bit longer to find my dream girl and sounds like you found yours a bit earlier in life. isn't it nice to have a bride/wife that you can enjoy your life with even if you don't agree on everything?

party looks like it was a good time and again I wish I lived closer.

best of luck on the plane partnership and all the hoops you need to jump thru to be able to fly it.

 

[drivesitfar]

I know you’re probably too busy to post up all the goings on in your life but wanted to wish you and your family Happy Thanksgiving.

I also hope the legal and technical stuff on your plane partnership are falling into place nicely.

 

[sbosecker]

I know you’re probably too busy to post up all the goings on in your life but wanted to wish you and your family Happy Thanksgiving.

I also hope the legal and technical stuff on your plane partnership are falling into place nicely.

DrivesItFar,

Happy Holidays to you as well! Had a pretty good Thanksgiving despite some sad complications. An aunt passed away just before Thanksgiving and a neice's husband fell from a tree stand and suffered a fractured vertabrea and broken ankle. So we were missing some people at the table when we traveled to Indiana. The upside is the prognosis is pretty good for the fellow who fell. When we first got the news I feared the worst (paralysis) but he seems to have dodged that bullet.

It was a quick visit at the Lone Beech Melon Farm but was so grateful to be able to have Thanksgiving with both sides of the family this year. That was something we didn't do last year due to COVID.

We are finally wrapping up the airplane stuff. Good grief! We got the last of the paperwork from the lawyer yesterday and I hope to officially own half an airplane in the next week or so. Meanwhile I've been reading the Pilot's manual and trying to memorize some procedures.

I went flying with the current owner the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I acted as his safety pilot while he practiced some instrument approaches. Hopefully I will be getting some instruction myself soon. I need 5 hours of flying with adult supervision before the insurance company will bless me (for insurance purposes) to be by myself. HA!

Anyway... all of the above has kept me pretty focused on the airplane and very limited activity in the LBG. I'm hoping for more "balance" in my life soon.

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Saturday - December 11, 2021

As I mentioned in my post to DrivesItFar, Thanksgiving travel and trying to finalize an airplane Co-Ownership have made the time available in the LBG to be minimal.

I've also tried to knock out some non-garage projects. Example:











The ancient T-12 Fluorescent Indirect lighting above our Kitchen Cabinets was addressed. I had replaced the original magnetic ballasts with electronic ones about 15 years ago. One of those electronic ballasts had failed and another was showing symptoms of impending failure. It seemed like a good time to update to LED replacements.

Of course the old T-12 fixtures were larger than the replacement LED fixtures. This required some additional wiring as the smaller fixtures only had wire knockouts on the ends or on the bottom.

Out of frame to the right of the last picture is a cabinet with a 3-foot T-12 fixture. I'm having a heck of a time finding a 3-foot LED fixture that puts out about 1700 lumin at 4000K color temperature. So, for the moment, it remains a T-12 fixture.

Not to say that I haven't been in the LBG at all...








The 2013 Toyota Highlander got an oil change.







As well as the tires rotated.

All the other vehicles got their normal 1st-of-the-month service as well.

I still keep my eyes open for potential acquisitions... I've been watching for a Welding Gas Cylinder Cart for some time.







Finally spotted something not too far away at an agreeable price on Facebook Marketplace. This Sumner 213-16PB-LF cart had (supposedly) been purchased by a company that needed to access some large pipe in a ditch. This cart had been charged "to the job" and then basically wasn't needed anymore. That was the story anyway. It had some paint scuffing and the tray on the back had been dented in pretty good. Still, the price was right and it wasn't too far away.






I used the Scissor Cart to unload the 109 pound item off my truck. My homemade platform was just barely big enough.






I think this will buff out without too much effort. HA!

The sheet metal is actually pretty thick. I'm going to have to come up with something to help persaude the back of that tray to return to close to where it should be.,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Sunday - December 12, 2021

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time trying to persuade the sheet metal on the Cylinder Cart's tray to move back to where it should be. I measured the thickness of the tray's sheet metal at .094 (with the paint). If the Interweb isn't lying to me, that's around 13 gauge ...let's call it 14 gauge due to the paint. That's reasonably stout sheet metal.






I went to my scrap pile and found a length of 1-1/4" square steel of a sufficient length to span the length of the tray. I clamped the steel to the tray with a couple of Kant-Twist Clamps.






Then I started from the left and started squeezing the sheet metal. I added more clamps as I moved towards the big pucker of metal. I was trying to persuade the pucker to stand up a little more vertical so I could get a clamp on it.








I was making some progress but it was a fight. Patience and brute force seemed to be carrying the day.






Still quite a ways to go at this point.






Just have to keep squeezing and moving the clamps...






I took the clamps off to have a look at how things were going. Well, that's certainly an improvement. Let's see if we can do a little better that that though.






I got another piece of scrap steel to spread the clamping pressure over a larger area and applied several clamps. I also used the arrangement as a lever. I pulled the tops of clamps towards the rear in an effort to bring the top edge of the tray into a reasonably straight line.








I'm reasonably happy with that. I will need to clean up the rust and get some paint on that tray at some point but I think the tray is functional. From a galloping horse at a hundred yards one might not even notice the remaining flaws in the sheet metal.

Scott

 

[Mr.zippy]

Wow! That turned out pretty good. Clamps sure did the job.

 

[Jayman17]

Scott, good to see an update and a nice fix on that dented tray on your cylinder cart. I'll bet you are happy to have the airplane ownership
legalities almost done. It will make going home for a visit a lot quicker.

Jay

 

[tj675]

Repair looks great!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Nice job on straightening that!

 

[drivesitfar]

Great job on repairing the tray. Another option that I use now and again is using big crescent wrench and opening it a touch bigger than thickness and work the wrench back and forth. Your idea seemed to do the trick too so well done.

I hope your plane partnership works out as well as you hope. Did you fly it to dads or just take commercial this trip? I’m guessing after retirement you still get cheap flights or did they end?

 

[drivesitfar]

I know you are probably very busy with STUFF, but still wanted to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and here's to an awesome 2022 TOO.

cheers

 

[sbosecker]

Nice job on straightening that!

Wow! That turned out pretty good. Clamps sure did the job.

Repair looks great!

Thanks guys!

Sorry for the slow response - busy here. HA!

Merry Christmas!

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Great job on repairing the tray. Another option that I use now and again is using big crescent wrench and opening it a touch bigger than thickness and work the wrench back and forth. Your idea seemed to do the trick too so well done.

I hope your plane partnership works out as well as you hope. Did you fly it to dads or just take commercial this trip? I’m guessing after retirement you still get cheap flights or did they end?

Scott, good to see an update and a nice fix on that dented tray on your cylinder cart. I'll bet you are happy to have the airplane ownership
legalities almost done. It will make going home for a visit a lot quicker.

Jay

Jay & DrivesItFar,

Thanks for the kind words and the crescent wrench tip!

Theoretically flying a General Aviation airplane should make a trip home quicker with more flexibility. The big issue is getting the weather to cooperate - particularly in the winter time as the airplane I've been pursuing isn't certified for known icing. HA!

I still get non-revenue privilges at Delta Airlines (fly for "free") but I am WAY down the totem pole in terms of priority to receive that privilige. I had a hard time getting anywhere even when I was a full-time employee (34 years - Delta uses senority to prioritize the list) and would use one of the few "Vacation" trump cards that bumped me up even farther.

Despite those odds, I did fly home commercially on the Monday evening before Thanksgiving. That allowed me to attend my aunt's funeral on Tuesday. That Monday evening flight actually had several empty seats on it so getting to Indiana was a non-event. That will probably never happen to me again as a Retiree trying to non-rev. Especially if my wife is with me. She always seems to have a clould over her head when she tries to non-rev. HA!

My wife drove up on Wednesday and we drove back to Georgia on Friday. A pretty quick visit.

Merry Christmas!

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

I know you are probably very busy with STUFF, but still wanted to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and here's to an awesome 2022 TOO.

cheers

DrivesItFar,

The "stuff" is starting to slack off a bit.

A Happy New Year to you as well!

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Thursday - December 23, 2021

Well on Monday I finally closed on the airplane. I am now a co-owner of N304WH, a 2003 Cirrus SR22.

On Tuesday I started getting familiar with the airplane ownership experience first hand. A week earlier I had gone flying with the other co-owner and the brakes weren't working very well from the co-pilot's side. This probably meant that the brake fluid was low.






The mechanic showed up on Tuesday evening just to look things over. I helped him lift the upper cowl off of the airplane.






...and I thought car engine compartments were tight. HA!






The white arrow points to the Brake Fluid Reservior. The cap has been removed from the top so the Mechanic can check the level of the Brake Fluid, It was quite low. He stated that he would return with a helper the next day and bleed the brakes and top off the brake fluid.

Yesterday morning he did just that.

One of the things that I'm going to have to learn is what maintenance can I do and what has to be done by a certified A&P mechanic. I think, in general, I am allowed to fill things - oil, brake fluid, battery, etc. - and add air to tires and change tires.

I think I'm also premitted to take almost anything apart ...I'm just not allowed to put it back together. HA!

I made a video of me walking through the hangar we keep our airplane at.

VIDEO

The Hangar currently has 8 airplanes in it and I'd say that's about the limit. Maybe if the 2 light twins left, there might be room for 3 single-engines but I'd say 9 would be the most that could possibly fit. Mine is the one at the end that has the pilot's door open and the upper Cowl is removed.

Merry Christmas!

Scott

 

[Jayman17]

Merry Christmas and Happy 2022 Scott!

Jay

 

[cvairwerks]

Scott: Here's a primer for what you can do. Also check Part 43, Appendix A, I think...

https://www.faasafety.gov/files/gslac/library/documents/2011/Aug/56398/FAA%20P-8740-15%20Maintenance%20Aspects%20of%20Owning%20Your%20Own%20Aircraft%20[hi-res]%20branded.pdf

 

[Chrisb62]

Merry Christmas and have a joyous and Happy New Year.

 

[Motoman1100]

Wow, that is packed pretty good. Might be able to squeeze a big Caravan in there with its high wings but that's about it. You know what's funny I just watched a video the other day about the pilots who shuttle planes around the world. They shuttled a Cirrus SR22 from Shanghai to Ohio by going west crossing over India, Middle East, Europe, North Atlantic to Ohio. Crazy.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Hanger looks tight, how do you go about moving the other planes when you want to fly?

 

[sbosecker]

Merry Christmas and have a joyous and Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2022 Scott!

Jay

Crisb62 & Jay

A very Happy New Year to you guys as well!

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Scott: Here's a primer for what you can do. Also check Part 43, Appendix A, I think...

https://www.faasafety.gov/files/gslac/library/documents/2011/Aug/56398/FAA%20P-8740-15%20Maintenance%20Aspects%20of%20Owning%20Your%20Own%20Aircraft%20[hi-res]%20branded.pdf

cvairwerks,

Thank you so much for that reference! I'm hoping that I can find an A&P that will let me - with copious adult supervision - do a little wrenching on the airplane. We shall see.

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Hanger looks tight, how do you go about moving the other planes when you want to fly?

Wow, that is packed pretty good. Might be able to squeeze a big Caravan in there with its high wings but that's about it. You know what's funny I just watched a video the other day about the pilots who shuttle planes around the world. They shuttled a Cirrus SR22 from Shanghai to Ohio by going west crossing over India, Middle East, Europe, North Atlantic to Ohio. Crazy.

Motoman1100 & 1949 caddyman,

Shuttling single engine General Aviation airplanes around the world is indeed crazy work! The one I'm familiar with is the Cirrus that was being ferried from mainland USA to Hawaii. I'm not sure if if was going any further than Hawaii or not but it doesn't matter because he didn't make it to Hawaii. Pulled the airplane chute and was rescued by a Cruise Ship.

VIDEO

The hangar is owned by a group of 5 guys. They do all the aircraft movement in and out of the hangar. You let them know you're planning to fly or that you've returned and they do some airplane tetris. Between the actual owners and their kids (young men that are learning to fly), there's a pretty good source of labor to make that movement happen.

I'm new to the game so we'll see how that goes. I'm not aware of that arrangement causing any issues so far. Hangar space at my local airport - like most airports - is at a premium with long waiting lists for space.

Happy New Year!

Scott

 

[drivesitfar]

I hope your new partnership and small plane adventures are positive and something that will make your retirement a bit more exciting too.

here's to another good (or lets say great after the last couple) year above dirt!!

cheers

 

[sbosecker]

I hope your new partnership and small plane adventures are positive and something that will make your retirement a bit more exciting too.

here's to another good (or lets say great after the last couple) year above dirt!!

cheers

DriveItFar,

Thanks for the "hope"! I had to chuckle a bit about the "more exciting" part.

I remember giving a talk to a group of Aeronautical Engineering students at the University of Michigan over 30 years ago. I talked a bit about what I had done at Boeing but when I called for any questions, most of the students wanted to know about flying.

I still remember a couple of the questions but the one pertinent to "more exciting" was, "Don't you get bored?" My response was, "Boredom is our goal!"

HA!

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Saturday - January 1, 2022






It is a good omen to start 2022 with some QST!

At the start of each month I have some routine maintenance checks (tire pressure, fluids, lights, etc.) to do on our vehicles. The rain had paused, although there was quite a bit of litter from an intense squall where we had received an inch of rain in 10-15 minutes, and I took this picture as I shuttled vehicles in and out of the center bay.

Hope to get more time in the shop in 2022!

Scott

 

[Motoman1100]

DriveItFar,

Thanks for the "hope"! I had to chuckle a bit about the "more exciting" part.

I remember giving a talk to a group of Aeronautical Engineering students at the University of Michigan over 30 years ago. I talked a bit about what I had done at Boeing but when I called for any questions, most of the students wanted to know about flying.

I still remember a couple of the questions but the one pertinent to "more exciting" was, "Don't you get bored?" My response was, "Boredom is our goal!"

HA!

Best regards,

Scott

Scott you remind me of what I used to say at Oshkosh. For 11 years I worked the EAA airshow in my official capacity as a system specialist for the FAA. We built and maintained all the specialized equipment used just for the show plus maintained the ATCT, radios, Nav Equip etc... For anyone who has been there you may remember our most recognizable piece of equipment out on the field, the mobile comm wagons (aka. MooCows). During the show we occasionally had people stop by our office or the workshop and comment about us cooling it with our feet up. I always told them that we worked very hard to be very bored. What pilots and spectators enjoyed for a brief amount of time took a tremendous amount of planning and work to safely make happen. Neither controllers, pilots or specialist like surprises.

 

[AZpilot]

Since the 1980's I have attended Oshkosh and started flying to the airshow in 2003. Always appreciated what the pink shirts and all the FAA staff accomplishes during the show.

 

[sbosecker]

Thursday - April 28, 2022

Well I must say, spinning up on co-owning and checking all the necessary boxes to fly a small airplane have sucked a lot of the oxygen from the room.






The last time I flew completely by myself was July 18, 1980 in a US Navy T-34C doing an acrobatic solo in the training command. Today, over 16,000 flight hours and almost 42 years later, I once again flew without any adult supervision. I had the above picture taken by a friend after I returned from that flight.

I have done a few things in the shop but I haven't sat down to document them as they have been sporadic and I was trying to get this flying thing taken care of. I needed a few extra steps to fly by myself because I'm not a student pilot (I actually have a pretty zingy pilot license) but some key "stuff" had lapsed since I left Delta. I needed to get a few boxes checked before I could be turned loose. I was signed off on April 8th and almost immediately the airplane spent 2 week in a maintenance shop getting its Annual Inspection. Today was the first opportunity I have had to exercise my privileges.

So I hope to be in a position to get some more extensive Quality Shed Time soon.

Oh yeah, when I checked my Navy Logbook to see when I had last flow solo I discovered I had my first Navy training flight on April 29, 1980. 42 years ago tomorrow.

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Sunday - May 1, 2022

One of the nice things about the LBG is it can multi-task a bit. I find it a very useful work space but, as demonstrated during the open house back in November, it can act as a gathering space as well.






Last night it was my turn to host a neighborhood poker game. Due to food/beverage logistics, I usually host in my home. However I was expecting a better turnout for last night's event and decided that the shop, and some borrowed chairs and tables, made the LBG a more attractive venue. We had a total of 7 players and it was a great evening of manly comradery ...plus I had a good night. HA!


Late last year I met with my church's Pastor for what I thought was going to be a social meal ...it was a trap! HA!

I had invited my Pastor to the "LBG open house" last fall but he had a conflict and couldn't attend. However, he heard about it and when we met at this lunch my Pastor asked if I would be willing to host a "Men's Retreat" at my shop building.

The condensed version of what followed is, yes we had a Men's Retreat at the Lone Beech Garage in early March of this year.






A sign on the "Pipe Racks" helped attendees to locate the venue.





Food, an obligatory part of a Men's Retreat, was set up in the Woodshop.






We hung a screen from the Chain Hoist for some of the discussion material to be displayed on. This wasn't the final set up as some chairs were added in this area and the projector was moved forward quite a bit. The ability to raise and lower the screen was a bonus.






The weather was perfect so we sat up a dining area as well as a fire pit in the Loading Dock area. I did string a length of rope across the Loading Dock as a measure to prevent someone from taking a "big step".








We dined under the stars! HA!

These pictures were taken from the top of the stairs to the Upper Room.

Again, I haven't gotten as much shop work done as I would like ...but perhaps there are other ways to get some Quality Shed Time.


Scott