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younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Rachel Brindle
@younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
35 followers 1 following 210 posts
Tech witch. I'm building an electric airplane. I maintain the Quick, Nimble, and Swift Fakes testing libraries for Swift & Objective-C.

Avid bike rider. Bicycles […]

[bridged from https://hachyderm.io/@younata on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
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younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
I did the thing all the aviation youtubers are doing, and I bought a 360 camera + a pole mount for my airplane.

It's pretty cool to have this kind of third-person view of the airplane.

The workflow for importing this is... not great, but fine. You need to […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
My airplane, a 2-seater propeller-driven light airplane, as viewed from a 360° mounted on a pole extending in front of the wing. The camera is slightly below the wing, keeping the tail number hidden by the wing. The sky is blue, with some high-level clouds. The ground is largely farmland.
November 30, 2025 at 5:47 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
My return flight is delayed. And it got delayed after I arrived at SFO.

Which I’m fine with, because I got a really nice view down 28L/R, an ok view of 01 L/R, and liveatc in my ears.

#avgeek #aviation
View from next to gate E11 at SFO. There’s a nice view of 28L/R and also an ok view of 01 L/R. 2 narrow body airliners have landed on 28L and R, and are slowing down to exit the runways.
November 23, 2025 at 11:42 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
0/0 conditions. Yeah, I’ll very happily leave this to the professionals. They have much better equipment and far more training than I do.

Doing a short weekend trip. I was hoping to fly myself, but despite being forecast to have clear skies nearly all day, we […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
The view outside a passenger window of an airliner. It is dark and very foggy. The runway and taxiway lights are all being heavily refracted. The visibility is less than half a mile, and obviously the ceiling is 0.
November 22, 2025 at 6:18 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
The coolest and most annoying part of this trip is that originally we were planning to take Amtrak Cascades up. Except our train was cancelled due to some maintenance issue. Thankfully, we were able to get a full refund, which went towards fuel and ramp fees at […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
View from the passenger side of my airplane, showing us departing runway 14 right out of Boeing field. In the far background, somewhat obscured by haze, is Mt Rainier. View over the left wing of my airplane as we pass by Mt Rainier on our way home from Seattle. View over our left wing as we pass by what I think is Mt St Helens on our way home. An aerial view of Portland, Oregon from west of the city. On the left side of the image is Portland International, with the Willamette river and Downtown Portland on the right side of the image.
September 24, 2025 at 7:24 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Spent a long weekend up in Seattle! I am definitely falling in love with this city, and, concerns about winter aside, I could see us living there someday.

We spent most of this trip in the downtown area, so we were exposed to the most urban/pedestrian friendly […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
September 24, 2025 at 7:01 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Oh joy, planning a flight for tomorrow. The choice is between dodging fire TFRs (temporary flight restrictions), going way out to the east to avoid most of the fire TFRs, or delay departure until the marine layer burns off enough that I can fly along the coast […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
A screenshot of ForeFlight on my iPhone, showing a VFR sectional map of the Siskiyou mountains. There are 7 TFRs for firefighting reasons in the area.
September 5, 2025 at 8:38 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
[Food]

Now I’m grabbing a late lunch from the local food truck pod. Pupusas!
An outdoor table with a plate of 2 bean and cheese pupusas, with an Arnold Palmer (ice tea and lemonade). My recumbent ebike is in the background.
August 14, 2025 at 9:59 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
New transponder arrived! For as small as the frontal area on these things are, it’s really easy to forget how deep they are. My com/nav radio from trig is about the same dimensions.

Also, it came with a wire harness where the wires are completely unlabeled. I […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
The frontal area of my new transponder. It is 1.6 inches/4 cm tall and 6.25 inches/15.9 cm wide. A 3/4 view of my new transponder. It is 1.6 inches/4 cm tall, 6.25 inches/15.9 cm wide, and 9 inches/22.9 cm deep.
August 8, 2025 at 7:38 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Flew along the Oregon Coast the other day. Absolutely beautiful terrain. Dense forested mountains abutting deep blue ocean. Breathtaking. I'm so lucky to be able to do this.

#avgeek #aviation #oregon #oregoncoast
An aerial view of Seal Rock along the Oregon Coast. Seal Rock is a formation of rocks jutting out of the pacific coast right next to the coast. In the background is Alsea Bay. An aerial view of the Oregon coast south of Yachats and north of Florence. The ocean is a deep, dark blue, and the mountains are a dark green. The sky is blue, with some clouds in the very far distance.
July 28, 2025 at 4:09 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Installed the new rudder links! It’s so much better. I actually moved my seat back one tab (second image shows the copilot seat, which is all the way back. The pilot’s seat is now at the center position).

Only downside is that my rudder lock is slightly less […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
Close up of the new rudder links installed on the pilot’s side. The rudder links have 5 holes, only the forward 2 are being used. The pilot’s side rudder pedals, showing the difference in resting position the new rudder links force. The co-pilot’s seat bottom of my airplane, showing the piano-hinge mechanism for defining the 3 different resting positions. To move the seat pivot, you pull out each hinge pin, move the seat, and then reinstall the pins. It’s annoying, but secure.
July 13, 2025 at 8:15 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
After picking up that piece of bar stock earlier this week, I cut it up and made the new rudder links. And this time, with a bunch of holes for different spacing. So that the next owner doesn’t have to share my pain. #avgeek #aviation #experimentalaviation #homebuilt
4 rudder links - 4.5 inches x 0.5 inches x 0.05 inches of 4130 chromoly steel. With 5 holes drilled an inch apart, to allow for different spacing of the rudder pedals.
July 12, 2025 at 2:47 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Put the finishing touches on these chocks. If I ever have to make more, I’ve deeply fucked up.

But they look nice!
8 pairs of white chocks, with white cord connecting pairs together.
July 9, 2025 at 4:00 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Just ordered my first part from Vans for my rv-9a! This little piece of 0.050" x 0.5" x 20" 4130 bar stock. Why do I need this? I am much shorter than the previous owner. For comfort, I want to move the rudder pedals forward a bit. I'm going to do that by making […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
A close up of the pilot's-side (left) rudder pedal, cable, and link for my Vans RV-9A. In the center are 2 pieces of steel bar stock connecting the left rudder pedal to the left rudder cable. I will be making new versions of links, with multiple holes drilled into them so that I or a future owner can adjust them.
July 5, 2025 at 4:23 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Crater lake from 10,000 feet!

I bought a plane. An RV-9A. I'm really excited to have this. Flew it home today with the seller/former owner. Did a few touch and goes at KEUG before he disembarked for his return flight. Then I soloed to my home airport. Very long […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
An aerial view of Crater Lake, Oregon. Photo was taken from approximately 10,000 feet altitude. Crater Lake is just over the right wing of my airplane. The northern shore of Crater Lake, OR. Snow is along the shore, and yellow stuff (salts presumably?) is visible along the shore and in the lake water. My new airplane, an RV-9A. The background/non-airplane part has been heavily blurred, and the tail number has been redacted. It's a small single-engine propeller driven airplane, with a sliding canopy. The paint scheme is primarily white with black highlights. There's a blue stripe separating the white from the black highlights. The tail has stripes running horizontally stacked on top of each other. These stripes are colored, from top to bottom: Yellow, Orange, Red, Purple, Violet, Blue, Light Blue.
June 18, 2025 at 3:33 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Taking the train to WWDC!
June 6, 2025 at 11:19 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Lovely trip out to San Diego this weekend. Very productive, but also had time for touristy stuff, like visit San Diego Air and Space Museum!

Very fun museum. They had a really interesting exhibit right now about Leonardo Da Vinci’s fascination with flight. They […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
Me, standing in front of the San Diego Air and Space Museum. There are models of a Korean/Vietnam era fighter jet, and an sr-71 displayed out front. I am wearing a green dress with a light jacket, and pointing at the museum building. The wind is blowing my hair in my face. An exterior view of the actual Apollo 9 command module. A small little cone that 3 people lived in for 10 days in 1969 while orbiting earth. A replica of a glider wing designed by Leonardo Da Vinci, and presumably assembled using period-correct materials.
June 2, 2025 at 6:26 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Cut a bunch of lumber to dimension yesterday (rough length, but correct cross-section, and close enough to square), filling up 3 5-gallon buckets worth of sawdust in the process (and even with dust collection, the shop still got covered in sawdust. Pro-tip I […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
The lumber I “milled” using the fence of my table saw. It was already close-enough to square that I don’t really care. Now all these boards are 3.25 inches by 1.25 inches. 8 of the boards to be used for the legs glued together make 4 leg pieces. With a large amount of glue squeeze-out. I’m using some of the other already-cut lumber in a likely-vain attempt to keep the boards aligned.
May 26, 2025 at 9:28 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Another entry for the #carryshitolympics

3 full-size (8 ft x 4 ft, or 2.43 m x 2.22m) of 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) Baltic birch plywood.
10 8 ft (2.43m) long 2x4s (actually 3.8 cm x 8.9 cm)

Thanks to the electrics, the hardest part was getting the plywood off the […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
A longtail cargo bike, with a loaded-up self-made 8ft (2.43 m) long trailer. The trailer has several sheets of plywood strapped down with ratchet straps.
May 22, 2025 at 1:13 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
The metal lathe arrived!
Now I have to build a stand for the thing, and then I can start making chips!
Looking down at a 10 inch x 30 inch benchtop metal lathe inside of a crate.
May 16, 2025 at 2:24 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
I’m in the process of transferring epoxy resin out of the reservoir in this Sticky Stuff epoxy dispenser. Only, I’m using an incredibly undersized peristaltic pump for the viscosity of the resin, so it’s taken about 13 hours so far, and I still have some left to […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
A black tube immersed in the large reservoir of a stick stuff 2-part epoxy dispenser. It leads off-frame into a peristaltic pump, and comes back in frame to a plastic jug for this resin. There is a heating mat on the dispenser reservoir to help lower the viscosity of the resin so it’ll flow faster. There are 2 marks in sharpie on the reservoir, once showing the level of the epoxy a few hours after this started, the other when I paused it for the night after it had been running for ~7 hours or so. The level as of when this photo was taken is much lower than the middle level. But this probably still won’t finish by the time I stop it for the night.
May 6, 2025 at 2:09 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Boo. I’m still going to take the train down there that week.
Screenshot of the first paragraph of Apple rejecting my request to attend the wwdc “special event at Apple Park”. The actual email content is not interesting, just the rejection.
April 4, 2025 at 12:06 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
So... finished today's mini-project: Assemble a (non-electric) all-terrain skateboard/mountainboard!

It definitely needs some tuning, but I'm pretty happy with it. The ultimate goal is to electrify it and turn it into a super-portable last-mile form of […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
Me, holding the board I assembled. I'm wearing a helmet because I'm about to ride the thing.
March 8, 2025 at 2:36 AM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Updating to iOS 18.3.1 re-enabled Apple Intelligence on my phone, despite me having disabled it in 18.3.0. This is extremely poor behavior to just ignore this setting. I don’t want this, I never wanted this, and stop trying to force this on me.

FB16500974

#Apple #appleintelligence #noai
Screenshot from the apple feedback app with my description of the issue of Apple trying to force AI on my device: Please describe the issue and what steps we can take to reproduce it: Update to iOS 18.3.0 Explicitly disable Apple intelligence Update to iOS 18.3.1 See that Apple intelligence was once again enabled. It should not have been enabled in the first place. The 18.3.0 update should have included a "do you want to try Apple intelligence?" prompt, which should have respected my "no" answer. And it should continue to respect my "no" answer in all future updates and reboots. It is incredibly inappropriate to ignore and disregard the explicit user action I took to disable a feature and try to force this on me. No means no.
February 14, 2025 at 3:58 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
We got powdery snow and made Sleety the third! (The third snowperson we’ve ever made. The first were, of course, Sleety and Sleety jr. which were made the last time we got powder, 3 winters ago)
A small snowperson next to a plant.
February 13, 2025 at 7:07 PM
younata.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy
Guess who just passed a flight review, having last flown November 2022? This girl.

No, seriously, I have not actually flown left seat since Nov. 19, 2022. Today, I passed a flight review. I fully expected this to take a few flights (as did my instructor), but […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
A selfie with me in front of a Cessna 172 inside of a hangar. My left index finger is pointing at me. Because... this girl.
February 13, 2025 at 1:24 AM