04.03.2017: We went to Friedrichshafen today to see the Dornier Museum.
I have been there before, but not since they put a replica of Roald Amundsen’s Dornier Wal (Whale) on display.
It has been built from scratch by a Hungarian company, to the last detail except for the engines, which are made from wood.
They also had a small but nice display celebrating 50 years of Star Trek, so I went to see it to get new ideas for my next project 🙂
12.03.2017: The weather was just too nice today to stay on the ground, so when returning from a three hours hike to a castle high above Stein am Rhein we decided to go and have a look to the area from above.
Below the castle to which we hiked this morning from Stein am Rhein, the town below on the Rhine river.
As can be seen below the water level in the lake is quite high, the result of the annual snow run-off from the mountains.
As usual on any weekend day one can see the Zeppelin from Friedrichshafen doing it’s tours.
20.03.2017: I renewed my medical today, all find so I’m cleared to fly for another year. I had to find a new medical examiner this year, as my previous one retired, and that was not so easy as there is only one left within around 30 km from my home.
23.03.2017: It was time again for the annual inspection on my SportCruiser. As usual I did most of it myself with some support from one of the mechanics, mostly for checking the compression, changing the oil and for the synchronisation of the carburettors. It usually takes me a full day to finish everything, plus two hours the day before for preparation, such as checking for SBs, ADs and for updating the manuals to the latest revision.
There were no issues with the engine, compression was fine and the oil filter and the magnetic plug showed no metal chips. The only minor issue was a small leak in the cooling system, which proved to be at the attachment of on of the hoses to the radiator. Tightening the hose clamp solved the issue.
The only other issue I found was a leaking valve on one the tires of the main landing gear. I only detected this when I removed the valve cover to check the tire pressure. The mechanics had no spare, but had already ordered some, so that’s something I still have to fix.
27.03.2017: I went to the airport today as I still had to change the valve on the right main wheel, which was leaking slightly when I took off the valve cap during the annual inspection. As I was already at the airfield I decided to do a short check flight, but once I was in the air I just could not resist to head into the mountains. A quick checked showed that I had fuel for more than three hours on board, so I decided to head for Matterhorn.
The weather was just perfect for this, only a little haze with a low upper limit and unlimited visibility.
I took the usual route towards the Tödi..
…checking how much ice there still is on the Klöntaler-Lake. Still a bit, as can be seen below, but larger parts already clear.
As usual I climbed to 12’000 ft, passing the Tödi, which is still a bit higher.
As can be seen below there is still quite some snow in the mountains.
Thanks to the practically unlimited visibility I could already see Matterhorn from far away.
I just could not refrain from doing a selfie with Matterhorn in the background and sending it with my mobile phone straight to my colleagues in the office, getting of course some immediate responses…
When heading back I looked south over the alps towards Italy, where everything was under a thick layer of low clouds.
On the way back I checked for skiers at the usual places, most still in operation but with quite few skiers on the slopes.
