Round trip to SMO and a status update

I flew round trip to Santa Monica today. It was a good opportunity to make sure all the IFR equipment was in good order. My arrival at SMO on the GPS-A was through a thin layer of clouds that broke out right at minimums. I posted a few pictures from the return trip at Picasa Web.

PAO SMO

The renter before me entered a condition report that the HSI was "not matching the magnetic compass." The first thing I checked was that the gyro in the HSI was slaved to the magnetic flux compass. It was not. I found it in the "free" position. It is actually working fine.

Please feel free to contact me or your favorite CFI if you have questions about systems operations.