Today was an exercise in doing something good for someone in need. LY, a lady probably in her late 40's or early 50's, is suffering from terminal lung disease. I didn't quite catch the name; something very rare and akin to cystic fibrosis. Basically, if she doesn't get a lung transplant, she will die.
For some time, she had been driving from her home in Syracuse to Cleveland for treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. Then, she learned of Angel Flight. Instead of having to endure a 5.5 hour drive each way, she gets free airplane rides that, even in a relatively slow Cessna 172, cut the trip by half.
It was a pleasurable flight in relatively benign conditions. The IFR Pilot logged .1 of actual based on a couple of clouds he busted through. Mostly they were your classic "lake effect" clouds, which only serves to remind that winter will be here soon, and will be bringing "lake effect snowfall" with it. Thankfully, 78S spends her winters inside a hangar and has a propane torpedo heater to keep her company!
The only downside to the flight was that the turn coordinator went belly up. Egads, yet another repair. Will they never end??? My inclination is to shuck the turn coordinator entirely, and replace it with one of these bad boys, which is TSO'd as an outright replacement for the turn coordinator. Unfortunately, it looks like they aren't available until December. That's not going to work, we need a turn coordinator NOW or there will be no IFR flying for the IFR Pilot. And the co-owners who are trying to become instrument rated won't be too happy, either.
Anyone want to loan the IFR Pilot and his compadres in the airplane partnership a turn coordinator for a couple of months?
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