A Geek Goes Flying

So Amazon put the Bose QC25  headphones on sale during Prime Day, $125 (down from $249). I’ve been meaning to upgrade from what I was using at the office (>10 year old Altec Lansing headphones ), so, done: My office setup makes cords off to the right kind of awkward: Also, I wanted to be able to easily disconnect the headphones to use the AX510 sound bar under my Dell U2412M  monitor (which is connected to the “headphone” jack of the MacBook Air) ... Long story short, I picked up the SoundBlaster Play 3 to hang off a USB port on the monitor (there are a slew of < $10 trinkets on the market that purportedly do the same job, but all had mixed reviews). The SoundBlaster Play 3 is a separate audio device the Mac can be set to automatically switch to when inserted: The Play 3 also has a TRRS jack for the headset allowing the microphone on the Bose to work with VoIP-type applications (it also has a separate microphone jack, if you want to use a headset with both pigta

http://newsroom.garmin.com/press-release/featured-releases/garmin-provides-key-updates-txi-flight-displays-gtn-navigators-gfc%C2%A0a This could be a game changer. “Aircraft owners can soon pair the economical GFC 500 autopilot with the G500 TXi or G500 flight displays, offering a fully-redundant, all-glass cockpit when paired with the G5.” Suddenly, the SkyView HDX isn’t the only game in town...

Edit (March 2023): None of the below works anymore. Boo. But now there are extensions like Code Blocks , which should satisfy the same need.

About a week ago, I met up with a friend, who happens to be a 1,000+ hour CFII and an air traffic controller. After I did a full pre-flight (oil was changed about 9 hours ago; > 7 quarts; about 27 gallons of fuel on board, plane in great shape), we set off towards Riverside ( KRAL) to pick up Sara, a Pilots n' Paws rescue: While at Riverside I filled the fuel tanks “to tabs” (50 gallons usable), and after waiting a few minutes for everything to settle, sumped the tanks. No water, no debris. Had an uneventful flight to Camarillo ( KCMA ), where we met Sara’s new “forever family.” (That was nice; usually on these flights, I’m transporting the rescue dog(s) from one rescue/foster situation to another, this was the first time I got to meet the pup’s new family.) Mission accomplished, my friend and I waited the interminable Sunday afternoon wait for tri-tip at Waypoint and then, satiated, set out towards home. After a normal run-up, Camarillo Tower asked if we wanted a left

The Owner’s Manual for the 1969 M20F said the rear seat backs could be removed: The rear seat backs can be removed for additional cargo space by pulling the spring-loaded lock pins at the seat back base and sliding the seat back rearward. It was a PITA, but, it’s true; here’s how. Pull the seat recline lever on the side panel back (towards the rear of the plane): While this is pulled back, “recline” the seat back forward (push the top of the seat towards the front of the plane). With the seat back leaned forward, underneath, in the “outside” corner (closest to the exterior of the airplane, i.e., if you’re looking forward from the cargo compartment, lower left corner of the left seat, lower right corner of the right seat), there will be a metal pin with a 90° bend in it; that’s the “spring-loaded lock pin” the manual describes:  Pull that pin in towards the middle of the plane. When it's about an inch or so pulled out, the corner should pop free. The other corner of the