Peter wrote:
In that situation you could go for months without flying. It’s likely to trash the engine, via rust…
OTOH, if you don’t plan on flying for months, wouldn’t conservation be an option?
The trouble is not knowing that you won’t fly for months. For instance, we never intended to not fly for 3 months, and most winters we do still get a reasonable amount in. This winter’s weather has just been exceptionally poor. This winter, where I live, we’ve had serious floods where it never usually floods (up to and including a bridge collapse while a bus was going over), we’ve lost a pilot/aircraft in a suspected VFR into IMC incident, across the water in Cumbria some people were flooded three times in just one month. While winter weather generally isn’t great here it usually isn’t this catastrophically bad, and we don’t know at the start of the winter we’re going to have months of incessant heavy rain.
With winters getting mild I’m flying more than I used to. This winter the longest pause was from Dec 25 to Jan 12 because I was on holidays (destination out of reach of DA42). The rest I used to fly at least once a week spending 2-3 hours in the air.
alioth wrote:
The trouble is not knowing that you won’t fly for months.
Of course. Some people are lucky and know it (some machines are flown seasonally). When you don’t know, then your only other defense in case you can’t get into the air would be ground runs I guess. I don’t think you would be very popular around the airport, however. Conservation can be done more ad hoc, it’s just not ideal.
I am wondering whether some people set too high a threshold on getting out and getting up there?
Agree.
It’s that “finding an excuse not to go flying” by people who fly too little to start with. A viscious circle. To break it, just go flying when you planned to (more or less irrespective of the weather) and return to base if it get’s too bad. Most of the time, it doesn’t…
You’d have to start final at the upwind end of the runway with that much wind wouldn’t you?
Jason haven’t quite worked out the block quote button, it only copies a word or two, fortunately the Euroga crew still have the plain quote function.
I have flown the Super Cub where you need wing walkers and you are basically hovering, but my risk appetite is much lower these days. A ten knot crosswind limit also is a sensible number, although the SC can manage more.
