Building / Testing new Airstrips + Big Hangar update!

Big thank you to my parents for how hard they have worked on this hangar so I could get my plane moved over quickly!

[@DIYPackraft]

A private hangar and runways just out the door… living the dream! That’s so cool.

[@nickwulf]

Congrats, what a great milestone to pass. I’ve dreamed of landing at my home field one day. Invite a few bush plane KZbinrs over and have a tail dagger party in the spring is what I would do!

[@jimecee]

“So I’m out here in a blizzard… cuz I’m an idiot” LOL Hangar and runways are looking good, living the dream!

[@GravityKnightFlying]

🤣👍

[@n7gn]

Got to love the giddy "hangar at home" grin. Congratulations and enjoy reaping the rewards of hard work.

[@theswampmonster4126]

Great content Buddy…..Folk love knowing the background story of people they follow. 😎

[@davidspeyers5740]

Living the dream. So neat to see that Todd. Nice to be able to work with your dad like that, what a blessing. Congrats on the accomplishment!

[@rjbishop12]

Awesome Todd! I can't even imagine how much of a pleasure it was to finally have the steed parked right outside your door. I'm gonna have to swing up there and test your runways with the S-19. :)

[@evopwrmods]

Sure is coming together for you. I know how important it is that you now have your hangar, shop there at your homebase. Save so much time and energy too. Looks like an interesting year to come.

[@Greghoylman]

living the dream,,,, well done ...

[@Bearhawk_Life]

Very cool. Now get a windsock up to make it look like an airport :)

[@kcpumpguy]

Living the dream Todd. Living the dream. My T-Hanger is only 1000' from my kitchen so I've got it pretty good. But that's next level awesome .

[@GravityKnightFlying]

Thank you my friend! Very blessed. Oh your pretty close to the airport - that is good! My buddy I shared the old hanger with was 45+ min away… ouch!!

[@kcpumpguy]

@@GravityKnightFlying My kitchen table is closer to the centerline of the runway at KOJC than the tower is. Unfortunately there is no way through the perimeter fence so I have to drive around. It's only 1/2 a mile on the road, so I'm not complaining.

[@boydw1]

Find a carpet layer, and ask them for the old carpets they remove. Large purlin screws with countersink heads work well to keep corners and edges down - screw em straight into the dirt.

[@GravityKnightFlying]

great idea, and thanks for the tip on the screws.. was thinking something a long these lines but that answers that question.. thx

[@boydw1]

@@GravityKnightFlying It's just what I've come up with that seems to work for me. Probably works better screwing into more compacted dirt, so your mileage may vary.

[@Bearhawk_Life]

Put the word out for a football field that is redoing the astroturf, take the old stuff and lay it down.

[@prof.heinous191]

Don't know if the US uses weed mat, but round here they get fixed with similar to a 9 x 1/4'' nail on a 2" washer, would work well on that surface!

[@robtebay1]

Fantastic achievement. Brilliant!

[@snoopy7647]

Congratulations on the new hanger! It is pretty awesome that you have multiple runways to choose from, all on your own land! I (we) have thoroughly enjoyed every video that I (we) have watched, since discovering your channel! One day, I hope and pray that my wife and I can build a setup similar to yours! Safe flying! Thank you for sharing your experience(s), with us that are temporarily ground bound, another great video!

[@GravityKnightFlying]

well thank you Snoopy! appreciate that comment!

[@JimBronson]

I'd like to see some cold start videos on that old Detroit :)

[@Project2Aero]

Sweet setup!

[@markmark2080]

Wonderful set up, roof looks pretty stout, you can't take anything for granted with large open spans like that...There was a small warehouse building right next to our factory I kinda always wanted to buy back in the late '70s when it was built, during the blizzard of '03 up here in the Denver area the roof on it totally collapsed. I had driven over the next day (city was shut down) to check things out as we had a flat roof with many 20x40 open spans and I was greatly concerned...The wall of the warehouse was hanging over part of our roof, if it had fallen it would have taken us out a few years before the economy did anyway... Don't be trying to fly through any of those "windmill" blades in the background...

[@GATOROC1]

Nice work, and congrats on having a hangar on your property!

[@doncatch1]

Enjoyed.

[@roberthegedus5022]

That wing-over at 20:15 looks so fun - I've been so nervous to try one of these but think I need to get on that this year. Thanks for the video, congrats on the hangar.

[@GravityKnightFlying]

im not great at full rolls, i come out too far pointed down (too much back pressure during) and faster than id like, ive only done a few.. but spit s's and wingovers ive done a lot. split s is easy to learn because you don't have to full commit. i like to enter pretty slow and then i dont come out of it super fast (I pull usually 2.2-2.5gs during one max, not at the beginning though). of course too slow of an entry could be bad... i dont yank back hard as im rolling into it, just enough to stay a little positive, then increase g load as im increasing speed and not worried about stalling... anyway you can work into them little by little. get a feel for what speeds and how fast you will come out the bottom etc. same with wingovers... can work up to getting steeper and such. not an aerobatic guy of course, so take my advice with a grain of salt! but its sure fun to fling it around now and then and get the heart rate up :) thanks Robert!

[@robertneumann7782]

A little walk behind plate compactor would bring that gravel together very nicely

[@jimhuskyflying]

Congratulations on your new hangar and runways!

[@prof.heinous191]

... and another thing, driving the backhoe and filming at the same time (great job on both counts), reminds me of your very first YT, life can be very circular sometimes!!

[@GravityKnightFlying]

ahhh.. good catch... that video was a while back!! thank you

[@HookedOnUtah]

Awesome stuff!!! Super pumped for you. Not gonna lie....the power line gives me some anxiety..... :)

[@GravityKnightFlying]

thanks Gary! haha.. yea, takes a little getting used to 😬

[@JSBIRD69]

Does this mean you're breaking up with me?!? Fine! Go start your own airport!! See if I care! I'm going to send my Super Tucano over to make a strafing run on your place!!

[@prof.heinous191]

Life can be very cruel sometimes...

[@GravityKnightFlying]

🤣😱 fortunately... actually, probably more unfortunately ....for you and Lynn.... I'll still be around there fairly often lol

[@JSBIRD69]

@@GravityKnightFlying Oh good. You know how much it would cost me to launch a Sidewinder missile at your new hangar??

[@prof.heinous191]

@@JSBIRD69 An arm and a leg probably!

[@TheCrazyCatstudios]

Awesome stuff! Head to Moab/delta area for a back country paradise!

[@GravityKnightFlying]

i love flying Utah... amazing playground. ive spent some time on the west side of the rockies, and there is some great flying over there! always like getting over on that side..

[@thompsonjerry3412]

Now days you are lucky to find any garage doors.

[@GravityKnightFlying]

thats no joke. dad bought the doors and all the particle board for the walls before everything turned to crap... would have cost like 4-5x as much if he had not gotten it a few years back. insanity....

[@wreckum56]

Ha ha the old Detroit in the loader kick the tires and light the fire! Lol

[@GravityKnightFlying]

that old son of a gun just always runs.. dad rebuilt it about 30 years ago, and built the bell housing adapter and mounts etc. to put it in that old girl after I sent a rod through the original gas engine...and it has been getting it done ever since. love the screamin detroits.. they just like to be wound up.

[@wreckum56]

You didn’t happen to tweet the governor on the ol gasser did ya?

[@wreckum56]

One thing about a Detroit,if the first can of either didn’t work,the second one will,most of them were so low compression that it took the first one to warm the pistons so the second one would work! lol lol

[@GravityKnightFlying]

@@wreckum56 🤣 LOL! thats funny! this one will start ok in the cold with a small squirt or two, but then needs a few more to keep it running smooth for the next 20-30 seconds. Dad was telling me that when he rebuilt it, he bought liners with longer ports to let more air flow into the cylinders, but those larger ports require different pistons with the rings at a different height... the guy he got the parts from didn't know that, and neither did Dad at that time, so it has stock pistons with the larger ports so it really doesn't build much compression when cranking. Surprised it doesnt take more to get it to fire honestly! Pulling that drag it will just sit wide open with a good load on it in 2nd gear with no breaks and it doesn't seem to care one bit!

[@wreckum56]

@@GravityKnightFlying yup I’ve got a lot of hours behind or in front of those ol girls scrapers road graders trucks trenchers that was the worst one sitting right next to it at seat level WFO for 8 hours a day on a wheel trencher putting in 3 miles of water w pipe it was a 3-53 the only good thing is that it ran so much oil out on the ground a person had to shut it down every couple hours to fill it up so you got a little reprieve. Lol

[@prof.heinous191]

Great job, what an achievement, that must be so satisfying! Is that two new runways or three, either way you've got more runways than Heathrow?

[@JSBIRD69]

Don't encourage him Professor!! He's abandoning me! Who am I supposed to borrow tools from now?!?

[@prof.heinous191]

@@JSBIRD69 I was thinking that bro, that's ghastly! No more JS moving Todd's plane when no one's looking, no more Astroturf, all very sad in a way. You'll have to keep flying in when he least expects it, just to check all his runways are up to scratch (and borrow lots of tools and beer etc!)

[@JSBIRD69]

@@prof.heinous191 I like the way you think!!

[@HeeHawHighlander]

Congratulations

[@GravityKnightFlying]

thanks man!!

[@aciagriculturalconstructio2264]

You really need a big experimental sticker on the side of that loader.

[@GravityKnightFlying]

haha! good idea. that thing is a trip. it had a gas engine originally, i put a rod through the side of the block when i was like 7... dad knew it was tired. so he had already rebuilt that 471 for it. been in there a long time. it was a pretty cool mod to make that all work.

[@aciagriculturalconstructio2264]

Your dad is an awesome guy. Reminds me of an old timer I grew up around. They know how to keep the world running from parts built out of a scrap metal pile. Everytime you video your dad I have memories of Champ. They just don't make them like that anymore.

[@GravityKnightFlying]

@@aciagriculturalconstructio2264 agreed!

[@bobbys7ECA]

Nicely done! Will there be an editing suite?

[@GravityKnightFlying]

eventually we may build a little office in there, and I'll put a computer in there most likely to have something for looking stuff up, maybe a tv hooked to it to play videos etc. but I think ill keep the editing stuff up the hill. it won't be super clean down there with the rock floor etc. thanks bobby!

[@challenger2ultralightadventure]

Are you going to have some red marking balls put on those power lines? Cheers from Winnipeg.

[@MissionaryBushPilot]

Was it cheaper to make it out of wood as opposed to a steel building

[@GravityKnightFlying]

Dad had those metal trusses from a hangar we had years ago (dfferent state). He built the metal beams.. so most of the structural stuff is metal. And it will have metal sides like the roof eventually (we have it, just not up yet.... working on a door first). So the combo of the two seemed to be the best/most affordable approach. Meterials wise, we actually don't have much in it.... labor though with it being so custom, 1 off, kind of deal.. lol....yea

[@grzechuk6776]

Awesome job! BTW your speedo is in knots or mph?

[@GravityKnightFlying]

thanks! mph.. it reads a little low (about 5mph across the board), and of course low at high aoa when landing etc. ive seen it show 23-25mph in a stall, and almost that low when touching, but reality is that it lands at 35-40mph depending on weight etc.

[@mikercflyer7383]

Must be a great feeling having the plane in the hanger out of the elements. What state are you in Nevada?

[@GravityKnightFlying]

thanks Mike, I'm in Colorado, just east of the rockies (east of colorado springs)

[@richp8813]

Throw some orange sneakers over that wire just to be sure.

[@JSBIRD69]

Rich, I had the very same thought. I'm now very concerned about your mental health!

[@Mike-01234]

What about subterranean termites wood on dirt usually means those termites attack the wood.

[@mwscheetz]

Power Line Aerial Marker Balls

[@JSBIRD69]

I'm not sure the power company will install those at a uncharted airport...for free anyway. I suggest that Todd tie two of his old shoes together, and throw them over the wire like you see in the hood.

[@GravityKnightFlying]

@@JSBIRD69 🤣

[@portnuefflyer]

@@JSBIRD69 The power company may surprise you, they are "way into" anything that prevents problems with their grid. I know this in my crane business, any time I interact with them, it's a team approach, we are all on the same page. I'd bet if you supplied the balls, that'd be all it would take. On the subject: when I got a price from my utility to run power up from the bottom of my 40 acres to the house, they specced out several poles, all overhead lines. I bought and buried my own lines, at half the cost, so as not to interfere with my view, and runway.

[@CaptainCharlieBravo]

Question for ya, I’m looking at an S7 and was wondering if I’d fit. It’s a few states over so I can’t try it on for size. I’m 6’5 and about 250. You think I’d fit comfortably?

[@GravityKnightFlying]

I'm 6'4", 255-260. I moved the seat back around 3/4". I have long legs.. im still a little cramped on leg room, but not bad. Definitely one of the more comfortable small airplanes I've flown. I like to get out every hour or 1.5hrs to be nice and comfy. After about 2-2.5 I really want out for a break. At about 3+ I'm ready to jump out. Off airport flying allows me to stop often.. traveling I don't make super long legs typically.. it all works out. I think you could definitely manage, but would probably need to mod the seat to sit back a little further like I did. Not a huge deal to do.

[@CaptainCharlieBravo]

@@GravityKnightFlying how about head room? I’ve got short legs for a tall guy (32” inseam) so leg room usually isn’t an issue. Grated, I crammed myself into a 150 for primary training.

[@GravityKnightFlying]

@@CaptainCharlieBravo good question, there could be an issue of being able to hit your head on bars to the sides (nothing directly above should be in the way). I actually added a pad to the seat to make it more comfortable, but that also added a bit of height and I’m ok on head room still. From what I have seen, the 7 has more room than the other birds in its class (kitfox, highlander, etc.) and it’s way better when there is a passenger involved being tandem.

[@markstoll9636]

how far away are you from Buena Vista?

[@GravityKnightFlying]

Hey Mark, a little under 100 miles by air.

[@moose7472]

Hangar warming party?

[@gregwatruba4541]

1st comment.