I haven’t flown for a while – just life getting in the way. Well, today the weather is getting in the way. The wind has been blowing all day. My home airport is now reporting winds from 220 deg at 26G34. The runway is 260 so that’s only a 15-19kt crosswind component – but still a bit sporty for a tailwheel airplane.

I did get to help out with a fellow Swift owner’s annual inspection a few days ago. I managed to provide moral support and airplane corporate knowledge for the IA since I’ve owned a Swift since 1972. In that time you tend to pick up a bit of airplane/systems knowledge along the way.

It’s a very nice plane. A new engine and prop were installed late last year (Continental IO-360 with McCauley constant-speed prop) so they checked out great. Really nice instrument panel, too, with digital engine display and two Aspen screens run by dual Garmin 430 WAAS units. Maybe I’ll even get a ride in it one day – the possibility was discussed …

My next project is our annual hangar fire inspection. It’s scheduled for this coming Friday morning, so I’ll be spending some time out there cleaning things up for the inspector. I imagine there will be a considerable amount of new dirt blown in through all the cracks and under the doors, The airport management team is nice enough to put on a BBQ for the tenants for the two days of the inspections – a nice incentive to get your inspection completed. Pilots always seem to show up when there is free food available…

Update on May 12, 2025

Even a better day today. Winds are right down the runway for 26 but you could use 14-32 for practice. Winds currently 260 deg at 33G41 but they are supposed to die down when the rain/snow gets here this afternoon/tonight. Snow level down to 5000′ (field elevation is 5050′). Welcome to Spring in Northern Nevada.