The Great February Squawk Hunt!

Pilots --

We need your help! We are undergoing spring cleaning / squawk hunting, which we do every winter when things are slower around the airport -- of course, with the excellent winter weather we've had recently, things have been busy, and the planes are starting to look a little worse for wear -- so we're taking action now while we can.

We will be going over the entire fleet with a fine-toothed comb, looking for things working "not so good", things that are flaky, intermittent, look horrible, could be better, smell weird, etc. Basically, anything goes. Our planes need a little time to rest, and we're gonna massage them while they're down. The bad news is, there will be intermittent downtime for all planes for the next 3 weeks.

So what do we need from you? Squawks! I know that many of you are very aware of the plane states, and communicate Squawks to us whenever possible (especial kudos to pilots Tracy T, Ben W, James B, Joe C, Joe Z, Tom F, Rafael O and Richard C for this!) -- and our "listening" ability seems a bit poor lately -- I apologize for this. We'll be spending the next few weeks cleaning up the planes and fixing inop items, hopefully to make past-due amends.

Please email mike@flycorona.com with your squawks, and we'll add them to the list.

Here are the major ones we're addressing:

Instrument checks for all planes
Radio/Nav checks for all planes
Cowling fasteners for all planes
All interior and exterior lighting for all planes

We know there are some recurring issues (such as 20U's "more than 40 degrees of flaps" issue) which our on-field mechanics have been unable to diagnose for us, which we will be tackling. Send us some other "quirks" as well that could work better.

At the end of this week or two of aircraft massage, we intend to also change the following regarding squawks:

All Squawks will be tracked by the office staff, and placed in the "squawk box" for immediate attention. We'd like the planes, once made tip-top, to remain so, and we are increasing our vigilance on that score.

We are considering a "squawk finder's fee" at the moment, to reward pilots with reporting these things, also to help us stay on top of things.

We are considering a "sad face" tracking scheme to organize our "comps for bad behaviour", and are looking for ideas. As some of you know, we already comp CFI or flight time or type upgrades when we screw up bookings or a plane behaves poorly -- and we will continue to do this. It is those "not quite bad, but still feel grumbly about it" situations that we're trying to improve.

We're thinking about things such as "free use of an ANR headset for your next flight" sort of perks -- things we can do to enhance a lesson to make up for prior underwhelming performance on our part. If you have ideas on this score, I'd love to hear those as well! (ie, things we could obtain and offer to make flying even cooler)

Thanks in advance! Happy Hunting!

- Mike

New Weight/Balance for 20U

Hello Gang,

We just got the W/B from Cessna 20U's new transponder installation, and thought a select few of you who even compute W/B would like to update your calculations :)

The new empty weight data is:

Weight: 1426.6 lbs
ARM: 36.66"
Moment: 52,298.8

This represents an increase of 1.5lbs empty weight, which means you lose one quart of avgas in reduced payload for you on your long Cross-country flights, or a loss of 1.9 minutes of range. Or, you could just skip lunch...

Blue Skies! (well, not today.. but in general!)

Pardon our Dust...

Hi Gang,

Some quick updates for a sleepy week at the airport. First, the office is undergoing some renovation to remove those hideous fluorescent light-boxes once and for all. Sorry for the dust. :)

Second, a belated congratulations are in order for Krishna M, who passed his Private Pilot Checkride on Monday! Krishna rode with FAA DPE Ken Earl in Cessna 08V, and knocked out the most difficult license in the series. Congratulations, Krishna!

Cherokee 08F is undergoing an extensive 100hr inspection -- and we are waiting on Rudder Bushings to be shipped from the Piper parts distributors, in order to correct some over-tight ridder pedals, as well as restore the self-centering behaviour. Look for 08F to return to the line soon.

Things are slack lately, and with the cool weather, the flying is great at Corona -- give us a ring if we can sneak you onto the schedule!

Blue Skies,

- Mike

And another update...

For one day this week, we had all 6 aircraft on the line and functioning -- and then Cherokee 08F went in for her 100hr inspection. :)

Look for 08F to return soon -- in the meantime, we have all 5 Cessnas up, even the 150s. 08V may still be pulled down for periodic adjustments to her new engine, but 72F is ready to take up the slack.

Winds are tricky this week due to the Santa Ana brush fires -- also a TFR is in effect just west of the field for firefighting. Pilots, be sure to call Flight Service before flying out, as the TFR is fairly large. If in doubt, ask the desk to pull up a graphical depiction on the AOPA Flight Planner for you, so you can understand the boundaries. Flight West along the 91 is definitely a no-go until Saturday, when they plan to have the fires contained.

Steer clear of firefighting equipment, and head south or north for bluer skies :)

See ya!

- Mike

Maintenance this week!

Hi Gang,

We've been a little remiss in keeping the maintenanced planes off of the schedule -- my apologies. I think from now on, we will block them out for longer periods of time, so that there is no confusion.

That said, Here is where things are:

Cessna 72F is down pending voltage regulator gremlins, and possibly the generator itself. Stay tuned for this.

Cessna 08V is back, but may be pulled down again to tune her new engine. Expect small sporadic downtimes this week.

Cherokee 08F is in for some top-end work on cylinder #3 -- we believe she has developed a stuck valve, and it is now being inspected by the experts at Corona Cylinder.

--

Will report more when I know it. Blue Skies! :)