JdFinley.com

Fulltime RV Living Adventures

Aircraft Video Camera

I received a great question: “Please tell me how the camera is mounted.  I want to mount one on my RV-4 for a trip over Monument Valley.” I got to looking around and realized that I have never shown how I mount my camera.  I was shocked! Most of my video capture has been done… [Read More]

Click

It was driving me nuts. A click – nothing terribly significant, not even all that loud but I could not find it. It only occurred while I was pedaling. Coasting sounded great.  It was not exactly a consistent pattern but it was fairly regular.  Hmm… isn’t a regular pattern the same as a consistent pattern???  Moving… [Read More]

28 Miles

I’m sure your well aware… I’m cycling for fitness, fun, and to reclaim my life. Know what??  I am making progress!!  I’m certainly having fun and getting into the ‘competition with self’ aspect.  I may even ride in a local “challenge” event to see what that feels like… more on that later. The thing that… [Read More]

Bicycle Fit

Now that I am getting serious about cycling, some time spent tuning my bike to fit me was in order.  I have seriously considered upgrading to a new bike but prices are kinda crazy so I’m going to run what I brung. The first thing that was immediately apparent after riding my bike for 30+ minutes… [Read More]

Air Head

I learned a powerful lesson yesterday. I’ve read a lot of blogs and heard a lot of cyclists talk about always carrying some tools and spare equipment.  This is particularly true for tire punctures (patch kit, spare inner tube, etc…).  Of course, the experience of others is always of value to me so I’ve thought… [Read More]

Oil Change

Just like my car last week, my RV-3 was due for an oil change. Not exactly my favorite job but it isn’t the worst either.  Out came the old milk jugs and off came the cowling. I have one of those handy-dandy quick drain fittings on my Lycoming O-320 so draining the oil is about… [Read More]

Tire Maintenance

I had several issues to resolve on my Vans RV-3B: The right main gear shimmies. Tire Pressure constantly leaking. Tires wearing on the outside and need rotated. I figured I w0uld take a stab at resolving these issues. The shimmy problem will probably take a couple of tries to resolve.   It can be really bad… [Read More]

Fuel Indicator Calibration

My Vans RV-3B has a fifteen gallon fuel tank and Princeton capacitance fuel quantity sensor in each wing.  These sensors are connected to a Grand Rapids EIS.  As long as I’ve owned her, the fuel quantity indications have been wrong.  The fuel flow gauge has done an excellent job as a backup but the quantity… [Read More]

Paint Results

I know, I know… I promised photos here and did not deliver.  Here they are, finally. I used Valspar Satin paint from Lowes and really liked it.  It seems like a good quality paint that covered very well. It’s hard to tell much from the photos – sorry.  The stark white that existed before is now… [Read More]

Value of a Pound

Aviators, more specifically homebuilders, are constantly trying to save a pound.  This is no different than most other “performance” hobbies – motorcycles, cars, etc… all benefit from reduced weight.  I’ve heard it said that in Formula 1 auto racing (the most advanced form of motorsport) saving a pound is worth $100,000. That’s nice if you… [Read More]