Tomas Vykruta Data Daily

Sellers hide stuff and tell you what you want to hear but you can still get good info with the right questions. 1. NTSB record search to look for accident history Go to aviationdb.com and punch in the N-number. 2. Call seller and ask few high level questions: Any offers on the table now (Good planes will have offers pending) Is it in annual Approx how many hours has flown each year for past 5 years Is it IFR certified Any damage history What known squawks Assume you're getting only partial information from the seller. But you will eliminate 2/3 aircraft already at this stage. If it passes this test (> 100 hours each year) ask for logs. 3. Spreadsheet the logs Make a spreadsheet and copy the TACH, HOBBS, DATE, COMPRESSION #s for each cylinder, for every annual, oil change and repair. Have the spreadsheet compute things like "days between oil changes" and "hours between oil changes" and "days between annuals". You get a nice

I made a handy weather planner for advance briefings. If you're briefing 3 days, 18 hours or 8 hours prior to departure, this guide will tell you exactly where you can get information from.  Feel free to  edit/improve . The FAA should teach it this way. Let's say it's Wed afternoon and you're doing a Friday sunrise flight across the country. You know it's about 36 hours away. Look at the graph below and scan down. I must check: Surface Prog Chart Extended Convective ECFP Winds/temps Area forecast - close enough to be useful Nothing else to do. Tomorrow evening, 12 hours prior, I can check a few new ones: Low level + Mid Level SigWx Area forecast TAF CIP + FIP Icing AIRMENT + SIGMET Just before flight, I go to the now column. Metars, radar, ceiling/vis, satellite. The full list of services is: Surface Prog Chart Extended Convective Forecast Product (ECFP) Winds / Temps Low Level SigWx (SFC-FL240) and Mid Level SigWx (FL100-45