In addition to the operational challenges we've had with the computers and the Stealth, we've had a bunch of other opportunities including a leak in the blower unit for the air conditioner and a garbage disposal that self destructed. Fortunately, we decided to renew our home warranty, so each repair only ended up costing us $45 for the service call. The A/C leak was a fairly easy fix - the condenser drain had become clogged, and the repair guy simply blew the clog out with compressed air. The disposal was dead, so the warranty company installed a new one for us. The latest breakage was the TV in our bedroom which died a week or so ago.

So, on Saturday, we went to the Wal-Mart and K-Mart on island to see what our options were. As we drove up to the K-Mart, I noticed the Florida-Georgia Blood Alliance Bloodmobile parked in front of Bealls. Fortunately, I had my donor card with me, and they weren't scheduled to leave for another 1/2 hour and there was no one waiting, so I was able to make a quick donation. This worked out really well, as Jeanie and I had planned to walk on the beach, but we had about an hour to kill before low tide, so the timing worked out just right.

And speaking of about time...

On Sunday, I finally got around to putting up the peg board in the garage and getting my tools put up. Jeanie started refinishing her hope chest and made good progress.

It was nice getting some stuff done around the house.

I had planned to fly the club plane for the first time solo, but the weather did not look promising. But, I figured I'd take along my stuff, just in case. The stuff had grown to require two trips, since last time I flew the club plane, I couldn't get the seat high or close enough, so I carried my assortment of cushions in addition to my three flight bags. One bag contains the essentials for all flights - logbook, sectionals, kneeboard, barf bags, pee sacks, etc. The second contains my headset, the other headset, a spare shirt, and a small towel. The third bag contains folders for other aircraft that I have flown in the past, folders for other airports I've frequented in the past, the AF/D, and a few other tidbits.

Around 10:00 AM - the starting time for my reservation - things started clearing up. I decided to drive over to the hangar, if for no other reason, to spend some time sitting in the plane to familiarize myself with it. That turned out well, as after some fiddling, I was able to adjust the seat so that I could see well, and reach the pedals comfortably, without the need for any supplemental cushions. By the time I had finished fiddling and preflighting, the weather had cleared nicely. I spent the majority of my flying time in the pattern, and, using the hints that Patrick had given me, flew four decent landings. The thing I was most concerned about in terms of flying by myself was getting the airplane back in the hangar. That turned out to be much easier than I had expected, which was a nice way to end a nice flying experience. The other great thing about the flying? I flew for .7 hours hobbs time, which, in the local rental plane would have cost $77 (.7 x $110) plus tax. But, with the club plane billed at tach time, I only paid for .4 hours, and with the cheaper per hour rate ($75) my flying only ended up costing $30!

So, what does any of this have to do with the title?

Nothing, but, one of the attendees at the coffee was the CAP Squadron Commander, who informed me that I had received a promotion from Senior Member to 2nd Lieutenant. I'm not quite sure what I did to earn it (maybe the UDF rating or passing my Form 5?) and it's not like it really changes anything, but, it still was nice to get it.

The good news?

I was able to repair the ECM (aka Engine Control Module, aka ECU - Engine Control Unit, aka Engine Computer) myself, with a couple of bucks worth of parts. The repair entailed removing three defective capacitors and replacing them. I did a better job of the repair than I did when I removed/replaced the capacitors on my computer a while back. This time, I invested in a solder sucker and some desoldering braid, which made the process less traumatic - to me and to the circuit board. I also made sure to clean the top and the bottom of the board really well with alcohol. More details on the problem and resolution can be found at these sites: overview, removal, capacitor replacement.

After returning the module to the dealer, they installed it and the engine fired right up.

The bad news?

The transmission was stuck in 3rd gear - or "limp mode."

Figuring that maybe the TCM (Transmission Control Module) (aka TCU - Transmission Control Unit, aka Transmission Computer) also had one or more defective capacitors, I asked the dealer to remove it and let me try my hand at repairing it. Turns out there was only one defective capacitor on it, and fortunately, I had purchased one extra for the ECM, so, I had high hopes when I brought it back to the dealer.

Unfortunately, my optimism was not founded. After installing it, the mechanic discovered that the car was still in limp mode.

I had them remove it and give it back to me. Since Glen at ECM To-Go had been so helpful with the ECM, I thought he might also be able to provide some guidance on the TCM. He was, but the news wasn't good. Turns out that the "E303 chip" was blown, and that rendered the unit unrepairable. Unfortunately, he neither had a remanufactured unit that he could sell me, nor did he even have a core that he could repair, as I mentioned in A Nicely Social Weekend. As I also mentioned in that post, I did find a rebuilt TCU from another company - ECU Direct for $400, which was much better than the $750 the dealer had quoted me. While ECU Direct did ultimately provide me with a functioning TCU, I was not 100% satisfied with my transaction. Initially, they told me they had the part in stock, and that I would receive it in two business days. After processing the credit card charge, they called me back to inform me that they had a core in stock, but that it would need to be repaired, which would take a day or two. It ended up taking three, and then they shipped the part ground, rather than at least shipping it 2nd day. Their web site also indicated that they would meet any competitor's price, but when I asked them to meet another price I had been quoted, they declined. Because of all of the delays, I ended up having to rent a car for three days (because Jeanie was out of town with our only vehicle), which cost me over a hundred dollars.

The repair of the ESCM (aka ESCU, aka Electronic Suspension Control Computer) by ECM To-Go was much smoother. I had elected to have it repaired because even though the car functioned with the damaged ESCM, Glen had told me that a bad ESCM could damage the newly repaired ECM or TCM, and I figured that it would be easier to sell the Stealth with eveything working. Plus, the repair of the ESCM was only $99 and Glen had earned that much just in the free advice he had so graciously given me.

I would be remiss to not mention how great the service department at Rick Keffer Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep was - especially the Service Advisor (Larry) and the Mechanic (Dan). They seemed genuinely happy and excited when I returned the ECM after making the repairs myself and it worked! They were also really patient with me as I worked to get the other units repaired - even though by doing so, I was reducing their revenue. And finally, I think the $400 in labor was a good deal, as I have a funny feeling that they ended up spending a lot more time than they charged me for.

So, total damage to the 'ol pocket book? Around a grand - $400 for labor, ~$400 for the TCM, ~$100 for the ESCM, plus some more $ for parts and shipping (and I'm not including the $100 for the car rental that I could have avoided had ECU Direct shipped the TCU on time). But, that transformed the car from being worth maybe $500, to being worth $2500 or more. And, it was much better than the ~$3500 that it would have cost had I gone with all new parts from Dodge.

The car is still not 100%. The radiator idiot light is still on - but that is just because of a faulty sensor, and I just didn't feel like spending another $140 to get that fixed. The CD player still doesn't play, and the display on the radio still doesn't display. But, I'll leave those for the next owner.

As soon as we moved, I applied to join the Atlantic Flying Club. It took over a year of waiting, but I am happy to report that I am now a card carrying member.

I had my check ride on Sunday, and I must admit, I was a bit apprehensive. I have had Sunday coffee at the airport with the person who would be checking me out many times over the last year, and he seemed like a nice guy, but I also knew that he flies jets for a living, so I didn't know quite what to expect. Long story short, he was really nice, and is the best CFII I've ever had the pleasure of flying with. He made me feel at ease and gave me a great introduction to the procedures of the club and a thorough overview of the club airplane.

My takeoffs, slow flight and stalls were all fine. My landings weren't horrible, but they weren't pretty either. The main problem was that I kept coming in quite high. After one particularly poor landing, I turned to Patrick in frustration and asked "what am I doing wrong?" He first replied that my landings were pretty much what he would have expected from someone who has mostly been flying an Archer lately (wasn't that nice?) The problem he coached was two fold, first, the C172 - especially the club 172 with its STOL kit - floats a whole lot more than the Archer, and I was carrying too much throttle at the numbers, second, I was looking at my intended touch down point all the way into the flair rather than transitioning my focus to the end of the runway. Those two tips helped a bunch, and my last landing was much better.

The airplane is really nice, and a bargain at only $75 / hour (tach) wet. Now that I am checked out in both the CAP and Club planes, I hope to increase my flying a bit and really focus on honing my skills.

Speaking of the CAP, a good part of Saturday was spent doing CAP stuff. It started with our monthly squadron meeting, which was followed by a couple of local training exercises. Since I just recently did the Urban Direction Finding (UDF) training and got my UDF certification, I wasn't too keep on doing another UDF sortie, so I helped one of the other members take down the squadron sign so it could be refurbished. For the second sortie, I got my first taste of being a scanner. Some of the other members have complained about the scanner job, since it requires sitting in the back seat of the 172, but I thought it was a hoot. It was very comfortable, and all I had to do was look out the window! I always enjoy riding as a passenger in a small plane, because I get to see all sorts of things that I never notice when I'm the one doing the flying.

So, the weekend was largely focused on flying. Let's see - Saturday - get to ride in an airplane and perform a "service to my country" by sitting there and looking out the window; Sunday - go eat donuts and drink coffee with a bunch of pilots, then go flying, then get to watch a really good pilot practice his aerobatics. Can we say "life is good?"

I didn't even get to read them. I hate when that happens!

The site is flyagogo.net.

Here's how the site describes itself:

flyagogo.net provides the aviation community with the most easy-to-use, interactive and graphical online flight planning tools, aeronautical charts, live weather, and aviation database available anywhere on the web. No registration, no proprietary plugins required, works with any modern web-browser on any platform.

Way cool! Check it out.

And, while I'm at it, here are some other fun flying resources:

Aviation Acronyms and Mnemonics (Check out his other cool aviation stuff at http://www.scottsasha.com/aviation/)

Tim's Air Navigation Simulator www.visi.com/~mim/nav/

Listen to live Air Traffic Control on your PC at www.liveatc.net/

The two main ones are moving the "stuff" in the third bedroom, which we had been using as a storage room, to our newly rented climate controlled storage unit; and painting the kitchen.

Jeanie decided that she wants both bedrooms available for guests, thus necessitating the storage unit and future bed purchase. The room is pretty well cleaned out now - which means the storage unit is pretty well full. We had hoped to also be able to fit some of the "stuff" from the garage into the unit to make room for at least one vehicle, but that doesn't look likely. Jeanie still wants to paint the third bedroom, so I guess that is still a "to do."

The painting of the kitchen is something that's been "on the list" for quite a while. The previous owners (or possibly their predecessors) had repainted part of the kitchen, but hadn't quite got the color matching right, which had driven Jeanie a bit crazy since we moved in - especially since the "part" was the lower two thirds of part of one wall. The kitchen also had been partially sponge painted - but only partially - which also bugged Jeanie. Finally, part of the kitchen had stenciling, which Jeanie also disliked. Now all that bother is just a memory and the kitchen looks really nice.