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Thanks for the kind words, I'll feel better once I know I didn't hurt anything. I'll tell you having that nose pointed so high that stall horn blaring and just waiting for the lift to break was one tense moment that lasted too long to suit me. I think my wife handled it better than Me. She has so much faith in my piloting I have to make sure to always deserve it.

Everybody makes a bad landing now and then. Lord knows I've made my share of them in multiple types of aircraft. Its usually followed with me saying 'take that runway!' I find that we go through a stretch when we grease everything. Then a couple weeks when you can't buy a good landing. Comes and goes. However, your tale makes me think about two lessons learned: 1. Do not fly a dragged in final. I see that a lot while waiting to take off. If we fly a very shallow final and the 'bottom drops out' we'll find ourselves on the ground short of the runway. Plus, being drug in means we are carrying more power than normal. That means more prop induced airflow over the inner wings which means more prop induced lift. When we finally chop the power, the reduction in power will tend make the bottom drop out even more. 2. While we don't want to fly too fast on final, we don't want to fly too slowly either. I get nervous when I fly with one of my partners when he lands because he sometimes flies too slowly on final for my taste. I don't like hearing the stall warning in the flare while I'm still stopping my sink rate. I prefer 80, slowing to 70 over the fence. He is often down around 65. If we are too slow and there is a wind shift, gust, or wind shear that results in a loss of airspeed; we just ran out of energy, altitude, and ideas all at the same time. Bob

I've always felt that windsocks should be mandatory on the left side of the threshold at every runway.

In your case, I'd say the chances are 100%!

N6719N is correct about flying skills attained in tailwheel aircraft. They're not that tough, but you have to full stall it from an inch above the ground pointing straight down the runway and not drifting. Once acquired that's a skill that will save wear and tear on any airplane and teaches you to land precisely. Additionally it teaches speed and energy control in the approach and landing which are really important to avoid porpoising in our Mooneys. I'm absolutely certain that learning to fly in a tailwheel has helped me in my Mooney. Gary

I notice after fresh oil change my consumption goes now, as oil gets old it goes up, anybody else notice that?

I'm from port Washington which is on the north shore of the Island on manhasset bay and LI Sound. I may be biased but I still think NY is amongst the prettiest states in the union

Today I finished my Tailwheel endorsement. What a hoot! With thousands of hours flying everything from C-150's to SuperCub on straight floats, to fighters, I can't remember ever having so much fun trying to learn a new skill. I have a new found respect for tailwheel aircraft and their pilots! Proud to be part of the club!

I found this today while looking for reviews on Jewll Aviation as an engine overhaul shop. http://www.dddnews.com/story/2206635.html He seems like a solid guy.

Where do I start? It is not easy to write a message like this without sounding disingenuous. So please bear with me. Oshkosh is something that I had heard about many times from friends that had been and experienced the event. They all had grand and marvelous things to say about Airventure. From the scale of the event to the variety of the planes attending, the airshows, the sheer number of the vendors and the people. They were always impressed with the pure efficiency of the organisation of the event too. When you listen to people go on like this you eventually form a mental picture of what to expect and so expectations are formed, should you ever go. Well, those expectations were exceeded. It really is mind blowing event that even by American standards must be BIG. I had no real plans to attend Airventure, this year or any year in the near future either. It was something I would do ‘one day’. I had some friends from South Africa that were attending this year but that too was not enough to get me to go. I had other priorities that needed my attention. Now I must mention that I am quite passionate about Mooney aircraft. I own one and therefore think it is the best plane ever designed or built, for my mission that is. I am not an aviation nut in as much as I cannot tell the name, make, model and horse power of every aircraft I see. However, I had recently read about the Mooney Caravan and how the crescendo of this organisation leads to a mass formation arrival at Oshkosh each year. I thought this was cool, even though I had little interest in flying in formation. I did however like the idea of arriving at Oshkosh by light aircraft one day as opposed to arriving on a bus. And so my trip to Oshkosh this year began. It started with an enquiry on MooneySpace about the possibility of a right hand seat for the arrival at Osh in the Caravan. This is the point where a very special friendship started. Rocketman jumped in very quickly and assured me that he could organize a ride, one way or the other he would make a plan. I still was not convinced to go but started looking into flights from South Africa and forming a plan as to how the logistics would work out. Clearly I was taking too long to commit and so Rocketman offered a sweetener to seal the deal and offered a ride from Granbury, Texas. Clearly he is a good businessman as the deal was sealed and my flights booked! Much happened between then and departing Granbury for the flight to Madison. To say the least I was touched by offers from Flash, Bumble and Sandman to get me to Airventure when Rocketman had technical challenges with his rocket ship. It is heartening to see the family of aviation at work, something that I continually experience here in South Africa too. This is something that we as aviators need to hold on to as this is the fabric that will get us through many hurdles in the future and the bond of comradery that we will share with and impart to our children and families as we grow old. This is something that people who do not participate in common interest activities, such as aviation and many sports, cannot adequately comprehend and understand. Much that followed Rocketman and my departure from Granbury passed as a blur. Some vivid memories are the shear flatness of the interior of the States, the extent of agriculture along the Mississippi, taking off and landing in formation for the first time, flying in formation and having a chance to pole the plane and get an introduction to formation flying, The mass departure from Madison and naturally the mass arrival at Airventure, camping with your plane (something I now plan to do myself) and spending time (not enough) with the Caravan bunch. I cannot adequately express my gratitude and thanks to everyone that contributed to this experience and I could not remember all that deserve a mention. However a few in particular bear mention; Rocketman for accommodating me and providing transport in Granbury and for the ride all the way to Oshkosh in his amazing plane and Pinto for the camping gear (that mattress is something special, go figure!). To the rest of the Texas Wing bunch, thank you for making me feel like part of your group, you feel like an extended aviation family to me now! To the Caravan family, thank you too for making me feel so welcome and at home. You truly have something special. To the non-leaders of the Caravan; you have a special and top notch team heading up the Caravan. They put in a substantial effort to make this happen, all because they love Mooneys and formation flying and do not want either to fade away. Take a moment to say thank you in person the next time you see one of them. As for me, I now have two new challenges in aviation that I would like to pursue. Firstly would be formation flying, it will be a challenge because of the number of Mooneys in our area, but I will do my best to get them together. Secondly is an IF rating (I was amazed at how many of you have IF ratings!). I will also be hanging a Texas Wing banner in my hangar and will wear both the Texas Wing and Mooney Caravan T-shirts and caps with pride!!!! Cheers for now and hope to see you again sooner rather than later and hopefully out of the window of a Mooney with one of us tucked in tight!!! Yours in aviation! Striptease PS: We will have to work on that call sign as no one has believed the rationale behind that name yet ;-) – thanks Cowboy

Factory overhaul engine with 400hr. It's used a quart every 6-8 hours since it was built. Yes we run the oil level around 6

I'm instrument rated, and will have my CPL by the time we leave. I also have a stormscope and XM weather on board. Best of all I have lots of extra time planned into the trip for possible weather diversions, and though we have a rough schedule there's no pressure to stick to it. We're doing this for fun, and the good kind of adventure, not the "exciting" kind.

Thinking the same thing. Wow, lucky guy, he's only had the ONE bad landing. Please post again when you have 6 or 7 "worst" landings! My worst was runway 22 in LaGuardia with a Fed in the jumpseat. Now THAT'S embarrassing. Classy guy, though. All he had to say was, "I don't think I ever had a decent landing on that runway."

Few questions... Do you have an instrument rating and on-board weather? Indispensable for a trip like this when you'll be flying across weather systems. Do you have portable oxygen? It helps with high altitude flight of course, but it is equally valuable on very long trips like this to keep you fresh. How high have you flown your C? Do you have any mountain flying experience? Your course from Moab to Chicago is asking a lot of a non-turbo C, especially in the summer. You're guaranteed to have pretty significant clouds and turbulence over the Rockies in the afternoons. I'd consider taking the southern route unless you know what you're getting into. I assume by the comment "short flying career" that you likely haven't ventured into/through/over the Rockies yet but perhaps you have. Flying over the Rockies entails a lot more than just climbing high and following the magenta line. If you get in the clouds you'll likely get ice, even in August. airnav.com is helpful for finding cheap fuel, and www.fly2lunch.com is a nice cross-reference to find places to eat during en-route stops. New Orleans Lakefront is an easy airport. I can't remember which FBO I used, but there are a couple of options. Between New Orleans and NM I'd consider College Station and Pecos for fuel stops. I'm sure there are plenty of other options. CLL has a car and lots of eating options within a few miles of the airport. Pecos is a legendary fuel stop in a desolate location. I'd make a plan for hydration and the associated draining during long flights. Hydration will keep you sharp, but there are side effects. My preferred relief nowadays is a gallon ziploc with diapers inside it. Easy to stow, and even I can't fill one up in one session. (I drink a LOT of iced tea and water) You might bring a small cooler with snacks too, or at least some snack bars. Bottom line, be safe, be flexible, and have a great time! You'll gain so much valuable experience on a trip like this, and have a blast while doing so.

In Dayton, might I suggest I19 http://i19airport.com/services/index.shtml

Yeah it is hurting GA. But it always has hurt GA and GA is now on the verge of extinction. So what has changed? Fewer entrants. That's the source of GA's death. I like the medical. I think they should loosen it up a bit though.

There is no one, even in Kerrville, who will do a better job than Maxwell.

I read this thread and chuckled a little to myself. I find myself to be an expert at salvaging bad landings. Because I have continual practice. It's an aspirational goal to obsess over a single incident. No commentary on the OP post - just a reminder of how much work I have to do on my own piloting. :-)

I hadn't though of that context but I just got my first chuckle since this happened

Looks like a many-to-1 keyboard mapping.

Sure wish my wife was a CFI.

You'll have that...(Bad landings) The more experience we get, the better we land, the more critical we are of ourselves. Yes do a critique. Then stop beating yourself up or worrying. It happens. Sounds like the practice opportunity is on retrimming/configuring in a go around situation. You can simulate that at 4,000 feet. Opportunity to practice. Glad it worked out O.K. I have one Cessna and one Mooney landing burned into my brain...and one bounce/go-around in the Mooney....All worked out fine. Two were a "What the %$&^" fearfest and one was expected. I beat myself up pretty good as I had others on board both times and I wanted to NOT do that again as I was NOT in control/along for the ride... So far so good...until next time. DUM DUm dummmmmm....

Get back into the airplane and go flying. If you dwell on it, fear will set in after the anger at yourself. I took the "8 second ride" in a Mooney and thought it would be great to take a break and reflect. I couldn't get into an airplane for 2 years. When the doubt sets in, you're done for a while.

Hence the mu1tip1e discussions on having the Gatorade bottle on board... Trade your age issues for the wisdom benefits. Best regards, -a-

Just to poke the bear, Dave, I bet your two ipads cost a lot more than my chart subscriptions . . . EFBs have their place, and for me, it's in planning and "advisory information" in flight. I like being able to see more than it shows, and I like being able to drive from home, work or Walmart straight to the plane and fly, without a detour to get my iPad, which may or may not be fully charged, and may or may not cut out in flight.

LPS 2 vice tri-flow has been recommended for the hinges. It's what I use. I use tri-flow for all the rod ends.

Another example of how reliant we've become on tablets (I'm as guilty as anyone - I have a iPad Air 2 and an iPhone 6+ running Garmin Pilot). iPads and Android tablets are amazing devices with great apps which are wonderful toys in the cockpit. But a Garmin 796 which is a dedicated aviation backup is much more reliable since it runs only aviation software and doesn't have conflicting apps running in the background. I used a 396, then a 496, then a 696 and then a 796 since about a year after they came out and never had it re-boot randomly in flight. The software updates in the past two years just keep making it more useful all the time. Every time I've upgraded I've always been able to get a good percentage of my money back on the used market since they are in high demand and hold their value.

Simply personal preference. The added lift lowers the stall speed a bit, and unlike full flaps there isn't as much drag in the flare. As a result, the bottom doesn't fall out as quickly in the flare at idle power, and I can always seem to have a nice, soft touch down. I still use full flaps for short field landings for the slightly slower approach speeds.

Maybe it's a reminder that you're in busy airspace and need to be looking out the window?

High temps and gross weight turns a Mooney into a different animal! There is not much lift over a hot runway.

What about the ONE instead of LIMA? It's hard fo read.

1. I thought that 4hrs/qt is pretty normal. 2. Somebody should define "small flakes of metal" and what is normal. 3. Is compression still good? 4. Will you check the parameters with good mechanic before you pull the trigger? It's very hard to decide when to start to think about new engine. Some engines has 400 hrs, 4hrs/qt and small metal flakes in the filter. Should they be overhauled?

Welcome to Mooney landings. It doesn't take much for your Mooney on landing to go from your best friend to "who invited Satan into the cockpit?". I don't care if you are a 20 hour Mooniac or a 10,000 hour Mooniac, there are just certain times the right conditions are setup to botch a landing. The challenging part is recognizing when it is going too far and doing a go around. One of the Mooneys on my field, an Ovation, found out the hard way this past week. If you porpoise, do it once, try to salvage it, do it twice, try a little harder. On the third porpoise, you better be in go around mode. He didn't and hit his prop... Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You said it brotha. There are essentially three parts of NY State. "The City", and "Long Guyland" and city-folk think "upstate" starts at Westchester County. Meanwhile, upstate like we live in, looks and feels more like VT or NH - its Adirondacks region. Funny that "they" (city folk) call places like Binghampton as "upstate" even though it is on the Southern Border. Its a big state - from Potsdam its a 8.5 hr drive to the tip of Long Island, Montauk, NY, 6 hrs drive to NYC, and 5 hrs drive to Niagra Falls. Say....you should check out Niagra Falls! Come to think of it, I should check out Niagra Falls - I have never been.

I agree with the comment about kids not wanting to drive. They live in a virtual world. Even message boards are old hat to them. They are taught that burning fossil fuels is evil as well. They are taught that risk avoidance is paramount and not risk mitigation. Kids don't go play in the woods like we used to. Hell I used to throw knives at trees and blow stuff up with a box of caps for fun. We didn't have helmets or pads. Why would we need that? Car seats? Yeah, the car has four seats, and a station wagon has plenty of room in the back for three more on a blanket. This is why GA is dying, not because of medicals. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It's funny how you quickly forget about the 99 greasers you did before you turded up a single landing.

maybe a gust disappearing or the wind suddenly slowing during the flare? It's God's way of keeping us pilots humble.

We consider where Erik lives the true upstate NY. Where I grew up and where you are going to is western NY. Those of us from either upstate NY or western NY never, ever talk about "The City" and Long Guyland. We're still not sure how we got stuck with them. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks for the gouge! We are flying to Batavia because my bride's grandpa is getting a memorial from the firefighters in Batavia. He died from smoke inhalation, no Scott packs yet, great guy from what I've heard. We will be flying back to KAKQ on Thursday so I thought we would find a nice cheery place for lunch. Erik, that's funny, north of SYR is really upstate! But thanks we need to head southish. We will save that for later when leaves are changing! Marauder, will try at least one of those options! CAVU might be an option, on RTB!

I found this picture from a previous owner and the exterior hasn't changed. The paint is an 8.5 still. I updated my profile info. I joined when we were still looking, so I hadn't filled in all the info, we were looking at Comanche's also... HT:Hank

I started off using a suction cup on the pilot's side window until the iPad fell off in flight and hit me. You're right, it is a distraction. The definition between permanent and temporary attachment is the mechanism to attach it in such a manner that a tool is required to remove it. Simple solution for your u-bolt, replace the nuts with wing nuts... Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

On the web site they state: The snap–on actuators are available on request in a variety of colors, styles and indication markings designed to provide a stylish console appearance to the panels of light aircraft.

Another less evident trick is make sure all the apps you do not need are closed (instead of just being in the background and drawing power). Double click the home button and close all the apps (swipe up) you do not need. Also remember that the aluminium back case is in fact a heat sink, so if you have it enclosed in a kneepad thing it sort of defeats the purpose...

Put it on the floor & turn the screen off when not using it and fly higher so it's cooler inside.

I misspoke..."Required Equipment" per the TCDS. The landing light is not required equipment per the TCDS nor does it need to be removed. It does not need to be deactivated as that bar has already been met... AC91-67 defines deactivation as written below: g. Deactivation means to make a piece of equipment or an instrument unusable to the pilot/crew by preventing its operation. The flow chart for 91.213 leads us to the clear determination that it simply needs to be placarded INOP in order to be flown while the appropriate switch is procured. http://www.nbaa.org/ops/maint/inoperative-equipment/operations-without-minimum-equipment-list.php Whoever "grounded" this plane is a first class reg weenie. Should they decide to leave the private sector, I'm sure that they'd do wonderful working for the Fed...

My 64 C has a regular roller bearing with an inner race that is basically a bushing longer than the width of the bearing for the hinge "ears" to squeeze onto as the bolt is tightened. Had my tail controls off, slid the bushings out, cleaned the roller bearings with sprayed WD40 while I spun a brass gun brush in the bearing to force out decades of old dried oil and such. Then squeezed new lube into the rollers with a dowel and reassembled. The bushings rotated MUCH smoother and easier after that treatment. Prior to cleaning the bushings would hardly turn. Contrary to popular belief, WD40 is not a good lubricant. It's a great degreaser. It was designed as a "WATER DISPLACING " fluid (hence 'WD" in the name). It was the 40th formulation of the chemist and was designed to displace water in electrical controls on missiles. It is a penetrating fluid NOT a lubricating fluid. Not really a good choice or "technically" legal to use on our rod ends for lubrication. Tri-flow or other 100% silicone fluids are much better.

Watch the price of fuel... Rumor has it, that it is going lower, as the oil sands in Canada and the shale oils accross the US are starting to flow. Employment has been on a steady incline. Stock market is at an all time high. With no expectation of falling off a cliff. Home prices have stabilized. Some have even gone up in value. The dollar has increased in value over other currencies (sorry Euro holders). Ovation engines cost about $35-45k installed. The price of Ovations are not in decline since 2008. I don't think I can buy one at the price of the engine. Mooneys are not going any lower in price unless you wear it out...I know the one I want hasn't come down The Gulf expenses are in significant decline. Interest rates are low, low, low... Price of gold is in decline. A sign that the end of the world is not nigh. All is good for the Mooney pilot...at least, much better than it was 4 years ago... At least it can be scrapped at the price of aluminum. Fabric planes don't get that honor! Planes that are out of currency get discounted. Fly often. Or am I missing something? Too much sunshine? Best regards, -a-

I've seen spar corrosion repairs done on stringers and splice plates , anything other than splice plates , and you are removing the wing and jigging it......probably starting around 15K + Personally I would really have to love a plane a lot to go that far........from a strictly dollars and sense point , its probably a part out....... A used wing , is in the 5 to 8 K price point.....and a lot of labor.... The Pressleys in Morristown Tenn. buy Mooneys in all different states of dissarray.....