Monday 16 July 2012

New Beginnings

Few things in life appreciate over time.  Blue chip stocks in a bull market.  Friendships.  Weeds.
Add to the short list a single-engine airplane.  Our Cessna 172 has given us great pleasure over six years, but the original 1972 engine was on borrowed time, for its age, not hours of use.  Bill's solution was to order a new one - a hot little number from PennYan that boosts the horsepower from 150 hp to 180 hp.
Does this look like the cost of a secondhand car?
Old Faithful; new engine; new prop.
Getting the engine from New York to New Denver is a saga, as was its installation by our AME over 3 weeks, and Bill's potentially harrowing test flight circling over Castlegar airport.  All good stories, but in this blog I want to look forward to adventures ahead.
I hope that sharing our flights over some of the most spectacular countryside in the world will ease my disappointment at having to cancel our Century of Flight Yellowknife excursion.  See http://www.crosscanadaflight.com/  I broke a bone in my right foot at the end of May, and it has not healed enough to navigate the ankle-twisting terrain of isolated airports.
As some of you know, Bill and I joined the Century of Flight excursion two years ago, and had the trip of a lifetime to Whitehorse.  I blogged it at http://www.flighttotheyukon.blogspot.ca/ 
That provides background on us and the plane, which I will not repeat here.

8 comments:

  1. Great new beginning Mom! I like the start!

    Too bad manufacturers do not make automobile engines as reliable as plane engines! That's planned obsolescence at play for automobile consumers!

    Can't wait for a test flight in Kazee! Jay

    ReplyDelete
  2. You might want to tell people "how" to comment...It took Mac and I at least 3 minutes to figure it out....I would also encourage you to ask people to "like" or "dislike" a post - then you know if people are checking it out as well...The majority of people lurk, you can't really win there - but you can set up tools to encourage everyone and anyone to participate in ways that would work for them....Maybe put the image with all the different "Satges" in communication?

    My problem is..I don't really want to learn about the plane as it makes me uncomfortable. So it's not the blog, it's the topic. I would prefer quilting or gardens- or one of your other interests - Mac suggests baking.

    Mac wanted me to add that she likes your profile picture, but she doesn't want me to write that....I did anyway :)

    Verena and Mackenzie:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I appreciate your observation on commenting, Verena.
      I have tweaked the settings to make the process more user friendly.
      If none of the other "reply" options makes sense, reply as Anonymous. Type your comment in the box, ending with your name. Press Preview to see how it looks or for editing, then Publish.

      Delete
  3. Hi Jill

    That's too bad about the cancelled trip. I know Bill and you were really looking forward to it.

    I like the layout of the page and how you added links for further reading.

    I also had to scroll back up to see where to add a comment. Maybe just changing the font size so it stands out more if that is an option.

    Looking forward to more posts!

    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Jill - after reading the various comments I thought I'd better post one. I'd never thought of being a 'lurker' before. I read a couple of blogs but have never posted a comment on any of them - so, I plead guilty to being a lurker. Thank you to Verenanz for pointing this out. I do enjoy the photos - brings back memories of places I worked during university, doing forestry research. Look forward to many more of your posts.
    Tony

    ReplyDelete
  5. New tricks for us old dogs, Tony!
    Teacher says it is all right to lurk. Being a lurker is the first stage of connectedness, followed by novice, insider, colleague, collaborator, friend, confidant. The seven degrees are described well here: http://voiced.ca/?p=2498
    If the difference between a diary and a blog is interaction, then comments make the reflections come alive. Thanks for taking the plunge!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Jill, Just got onto your blog and I'm exploring. Good to see you and Bill for a visit. It's great to catch up.

    We got back here on Saturday aft. and wondered if you did get away to Fairmont.We took and extra day and camped at Silverton, waterfront site, magical!! Trudy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a wonderful visit we had with you and Nick, however brief!
      Let's plan a rendezvous in Invermere one day. Bet there are some hikes you'd like to see from the air!

      Delete