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@OGBPilot That's a great looking Mooney! Who did the paint job?

I was reading the history of Avgas 100 Octane (UL thread is somehow depressing to read), it's interesting that Spitefire engine could even run on 87 Octane? they were later switched to run on 100 Octane, this increased speed by 30mph and gave an edge versus ME109 ! https://www.warbirdforum.com/octane.htm A nice history find is that the man who made 100 Octane at Shell in 1930's was the same guy who made flight instruments for flying without visibility in 1930's, he was also a famous racer. Doolittle set the world's high-speed record for land planes in 1932 using Shell avgas https://www.shell.com/business-customers/aviation/100years/more-uptime/high-octane.html https://irontontribune.com/2021/01/16/jimmy-doolittle-pilot-racer-and-inventor-of-100-octane-gasoline/ A bit later, he was more famous with "Toolittle Raid".

I did it with my CFI in the Cherokees when working on my PPL and in my Mooney for transition training. Both times the most startling factor was how much ground you were looking at to keep the nose down enough to maintain airspeed through the turn. In the Mooney I didn't drop the gear until I knew I had the runway made. I verbally brief three points before every takeoff. By saying it out loud, even if nobody is in the plane it is an effort to solidify the plan in my mind in the event I need to employ the plan. "I should be at 60mph or off the ground by xxxx or I pull power and stop on the runway." "Problems immediately after takeoff my best option is xxxx." (Someplace out in front of me.) "Traffic pattern is xxxx, I can make a turn back at xxxx." (Where my turn back altitude is 100' less that TPA) Sometimes the last one is "Traffic pattern is xxxx, by the time I get there I will be too far away to turn back so my best option is xxxx." For example leaving KPSO yesterday with DA just under 10,000 there was no way I would get the altitude needed in the time needed to turn back.

We sent a shop two seals They were happy and paid the invoice shown

Very cool. I have never been there. Tickets may not be as coveted as they used to be, I read that they struggled to sell out this year. My understanding if you land there, make sure you throughly was the airplane once home. The dirt is corrosive.

Flew into KTDW today and am not disappointed. The FBO service was outstanding and convenient.

I’ve used all 3 settings just to be comfortable with them (my electric flaps died in the up position a couple weeks back so I got a “real” nf landing). Personally, I like full flaps as that’s the configuration for the slowest possible touchdown and the shortest landing roll. I agree that the to position feels a little better sometimes, I expect from a combination of the extra few knots and the different view, but you can land just as well with full flaps if you practice. Caveat… i use to flaps on instrument approaches until landing is assured.

I like having my maintenance done at home; you know when you start a project, not always when you finish it due to what may be uncovered.

Full flaps and power idle.

Original manufacturer Micro was bought by Honeywell. You can probably find the suitable sub on their website, or any of the big warehouses (Mouser, Digikey, etc.). If the pn crosses to a mil-spec, that’s good enough for approved replacement. Actually, most of the major electronics manufacturers meet some type of standard that is good enough to be installed as a ‘standard part.’ Or try a salvage yard… https://prod-edam.honeywell.com/content/dam/honeywell-edam/sps/siot/en-us/products/switches/toggle-switches/ts-series/documents/sps-siot-microswitch-ts-toggle-ps-005427-4-en-ciid-145144.pdf

I enter the pattern with Takeoff Flaps, and adjust them on final along with elevator, trim and throttle to hit my intended point of landing. This is what my Owners Manual has to say; your POH may have a similar discussion under Normal Procedures, Landing. This gives a bit of discussion as indicated: On the other hand, my C is shorter and lighter than your J. I flew a friend's 75 F a bit, and it landed much better with full flaps. Then again, the F flaps had only three selectable positions: Up, Takeoff and Down. My own electric flaps are infinitely variable between Up and Down, and usually give them a tap or two beyond Takeoff on final. Experiment some and see what works for you. I seem to only use full flaps to land on those rare days when the wind is totally calm. Also practice no flap landings, and simulated engine outs. Take a CFI with you the first few times, since you're still learning your plane and how it responds to different settings.

I think we are saying the same thing. More flaps takes a lower nose, less flaps has the nose higher when you land.

If I’m flying a glideslope, I have gear down, full flaps, ~16” MP. When I break out, I will evaluate my position to the runway and decide when to pull the power. Depending on the wind, I can usually pull the power at DH. Carrying power into the flare will increase your landing distance a lot. Even having your idle speed set too high will increase your landing distance a lot. If you are flying the GS at 90 KTS, you are carrying 20 extra KTS when you break out. I usually throttle back to the top of the yellow arc on the tach and slow down to 70 and then go to idle when in a good position. If you keep 90 KTS to the flare, you will use a lot of runway, and spend a lot on tires and brakes. It is a good landing when you have to power up to make it to a turnoff. I hope I got all this right. I do it all automatically and don’t think about it that much.

A little confused by this statement. I like more flaps because the nose pitches down; better sight angle, doesn't feel like you're digging out of a hole when you're slower. When is more nose up pitch required? In the flare? I don't think I even think about control forces in the flare; however I would expect opposite of what you said. ??

Agreed about the insurance companies dictating the training needed for them to cover a high performance airplane, since I just purchased a K, they set the exact hours and type of training I will need to be covered by the policy since I have only trained in Piper and Cessna fixed gear low HP planes.

Are you on the standard glide slope? (according to VASI/PAPI/ILS)

As an aside for anyone installing a new seal. Take your cellphone/camera and take a video/pictures of the seal all the way around the door before you remove the old seal, and study how the seal was applied and where it appears most compressed. This will help you better understand how the seal is applied, how close or far away from the edge of the door skin it is, where the seal passes the door pins and how close, and where the seal contacts the frame especially along the corners, especially around the forward bottom corner of the main and along the bottom of the main door.

For my install I used newer GeeBee Seal that has thinner and more compressible bulb. Are you having issues with the baggage or cabin door? Take some pieces of paper cut in 2-3" widths and stick in the door when you close the door to try to sort out where you feel the seal is binding most. First thing to look at is do you have any parts of the seal that when compressed will protrude past the edge of the door frame? If the seal is far enough out for seal to be visible when you close the door from the outside, then it's probably binding there. If you look at my picture above with the multicolored clamps, you can see that when I clamped the seal bulb it still had at least 2+mm I think from the edge of the main door. As far as stretching the seal...NOT AT ALL...if I did so it was unintentional. I tried to install without any stretch. At the corners perhaps there may have been inadvertent bending as I followed the radius, but nothing intentional to thin out the seal. On the Baggage door there is a "lip" on the door frame that you need to make sure that your seal doesn't compress into. What I found is that the way that I applied the seal it actually turns the corner and contacts the frame towards the inside of the radius briefly, but mostly the seal falls outside the inside radius on the flat part. In the picture below my seal doesn't contact the red circle but stays in the green circle areas on the flat part even when closed and compressed. As a final thing to check, you might also look at the door rigging adjustments. If your door was rigged to attempt to compensate for a failing door seal, it could be overly tight on a new seal. When closed and latched is your door flush with aircraft skin? Door rigging was in my service manual 52-11-00. The top latching pin on the main door can be adjusted to either shorten or extend further from the frame. I did not have to do any adjustments for my door and the "firmness" of the door was solid, but not difficult to close when inside the door. Upload some pictures of your seal and we might be able to troubleshoot.

When I have practiced it, I always pull the power and do a slow count to five before doing anything. That’s about the fastest I think I would react. Reaction time should be lower if you brief it because it will be on your mind. But…nothing is certain where humans are involved.

Yeah, I've tried that... however, it seems my plane wants a better looking masseuse

Used the thin walled one as Gee Bee noted which is the far right one in the pic he provided of the three seals. I'll try stretching it. Thanks

Hi All, My flap switch broke. Shockingly, the shop is having trouble trying to source part number 12TS147-20. Anyone know where I can find one or if there's a suitable PMA replacement momentary switch?

We don't teach people how to drive in the US. I used to teach performance driving at the track. It is EYE OPENING.

Human factors say not! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Make a fun trip out of it and see the local area.