News
We are truly thankful for the support that 3CD has already picked up after moving to MYF only a few weeks back. We hope this trend continues throughout this month and into 2021. It will help us to afford some rather significant unplanned and unfunded damage repair expenses we incurred earlier this year, which did not get (fully) reimbursed by the club’s IDP program. It will also allow us to continue to invest into making 3CD your most economical and comfortable choice for IFR training and cross country flights.
Here are the most recent upgrades and improvements.
MFD is back from the shop and received a CMAX (geo-referenced charts) upgrade. With the charts cycle not being in sync with the navdata cycle, we will try our best to keep them current. For IFR missions, make sure you bring your own set of current plates – just in case.
We are happy to announce that the carpet mats have reached their designed useful life. They will be replaced on 12/5 with these beauties. The team at SCS Interiors has done fantastic work and impressed us with the attention to detail and consulting about colors and scheme options.
Charity
Over the last couple of days, a very generous member of PlusOne has chosen 3CD to perform charitable flights for Angel Flight West. Angel Flight West is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization that arranges free, non-emergency air travel for children and adults with serious medical conditions and other compelling needs.
We want to do our part to incentivize and increase use of 3CD to donate to this cause and have adjusted the terms for our loyalty offer (see below) to give special terms for members conducting charitable missions.
New loyalty offer
We try to reward loyalty and encourage proficiency. This is why we are offering a new discount to any member flying 3CD for at least 15 hours over any 90 day period. No signups, no annual fee. Just fly and email info@n173cd.com when you have reached the minimum and we will process the refund check.
Terms and conditions (updated):
- ScheduleMaster can only handle one rate. Since we have no crystal ball, everyone needs to pay standard rate and request a refund if eligible
- Refunds processed within 30 days after request
- Offer subject to change at any time with or without notice. The best way of keeping it valid is to make a lot of use of this offer.
- Members conducting charitable flight missions (e.g. Angel Flight West) in 3CD will receive 2.0 hours credit towards the 15 hour minimum requirement for every hour they fly a qualifying charitable mission.
- CFI’s instructing in 3CD will receive 0.5 hour credit towards the 15 hour minimum for every hour they instruct in 3CD. CFI’s need to reach out to us to get that credit.
- Both, the special terms for charity and CFI flights, will require the member/CFI to reach out and request the credit. There will be no automatic credit.
Maintenance update
FAQ: Why is there no (reserve) oil in the plane?
Answer: Because people tend to overfill the engine if we make it (too) readily available.
The IO-360-ES requires, according to the POH, at least 6 quarts of oil for proper operation. The filler cap indicates the sump capacity of max. 8 quarts. Unfortunately, the lid doesn’t say “max. 8 qts” but just “8 qts”. Due to the (some Lycoming owners will say “poor”) design, any oil in excess of 7 quarts will simply blow out the overflow tube during initial climb (Vx) or other maneuvers that result in high pitch attitude. This is the long way of saying that any oil added beyond 7 quarts on the dipstick will be drained from the engine during the first 5 minutes of the next flight. Some of it can be found on the underside of the fuselage, as the drain tube is located in the front, just next to the fuel drain underneath the engine. We have found our “oil bill” coming down significantly since we stopped keeping oil the back.
Even though our guidance is to keep the oil “above 6 quarts and below 7 quarts”, we encourage you to make your own decisions about oil levels during your pre-flight. If that includes adding oil beyond 7 quarts, that’s fine. You can get a quart of 20W50 either through the FBO or from the ‘stuff box’ that will be located on the tie down. Please make a record in the oil log if you use some from our box. It will help us to track the consumption accurately.
Happy holidays
Here is your reminder to always book a standby schedule, even if your plans are not firm yet and may change. Lots of schedules get cancelled or rebooked. The odds are always in your favor.
Book your schedule today! Thanks for flying N173CD!
Happy Landings!
Phillip