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Thanksgiving flight with 3 of my nieces. For the two in the back it was their first GA flight. I followed this flight up with a flight with my 72 year old father who is a retired pilot and was also my first CFI.

This is last weeks flight to visit a family member in the hospital. Certain NJ Mailing List Mooniacs may recognize the quarry. Great fall flight. Unfortunately we just arrived into the dismal FIKI-party of Pittsburgh winters. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These comments just struck me as odd; I'm unsure what your judgement is based on. From what I've seen and read around here a lot of MSers are passionate about their planes and spend plenty of time and money both maintaining and improving them. Many of our planes are 30-50 years old, and yes they require TLC but I can honestly state that my '78 J is no money pit. Many of us can't afford a newer plane or extensive panel upgrade but still we're flying safe, efficient, and airworthy aircraft. I'm a proud member of the CB club but that doesn't mean I cut a single corner with maintenance or safety. For me being a CB just means more money is left over for fuel (more trips and training). Sure, I've got a few cracks in the interior panels and the like but you won't find a single "inop" placard anywhere. I've seen several member's planes in similar fine condition. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thank you for all the advice. Using the "modified" (magnetic tool) Clarence's technique did the job in less than 2 hours. My A&P didn't have the Rapco wrench and subscribes to Mooneymite's approach in combination with removing oil filter and using crowfoot. In the meantime I have to disagree with Mooneymite on this one. Only Girly-Man contort themselves - REAL men know a woman who knows where to get the correct tool.

As much time as I spend on MS I don't know how I missed this thread I hope you have good news on the corrosion concerns and then things can start going back together. Good luck sir I love happy endings.

Working well now... I was nervous using ATC before being IR... Best regards, -a-

I was wondering if that was a MooneySpace member. Now I know! And a controller to boot. Started to watch it after Thanksgiving dinner but had to stop right after you air picked up your clearance. I wish we could do air pick-ups here easier.

I often wondered if these airborne tests are as much as testing their ground based system as it is testing the stuff we install.

It's hard to say from one pic but it looks to me like that lighter crescent-shaped area is the beginnings of valve failure. And regarding engine data review, I'm with you brother. I keep my 830 set on 2-second sampling and download after every flight. At least once a week I give the graphs a good going-over. Good job on the early catch! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Bingo. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Happened twice? Be sure you're keeping pressure up where it is supposed to be - my E is 30 psi all around but I think your J's nose tire get higher pressure - 45?. I suppose low pressure causes most flats. Second, don't skimp on the tubes. Michelin Airstops are favored by many here.

Hi Ron ... happy holiday! Here’s an FAA AC that describes maintenance record keeping. You might be surprised to see that most of these records may be discarded when the work is repeated or superseded by other work, or 1 year after the work is performed. However, what’s legally required is not necessarily the best option. For instance, when selling the aircraft complete and continuos records are essential to maintaining value. You can digitize all of the logbooks and discard the paper versions as long as the digitized version contains the legible elements required in FARs. Some people will do that, and then keep only a current paper copies for the required time, digitizing those afterwards. Others have gone totally digital. So, if you choose not to digitize but rather cull out all the excess, follow the guidance in the AC and I think you will see that you can cut a lot out but still maintain the necessary continuity. Most would end with “best advice is just keep it all”. DVA

So my motorhome ended up in the shop just prior to the weekend drastically changing our Thanksgiving plans. So instead of driving from Florida to Branson, Missouri, we packed up the Mooney and Flew to Montana to see both sets of parents. 1360 miles as planned, 11.5 hours in the air, day one we had 44 kts of head wind during parts of the trip, averaged about 22 kts head wind for the entire trip. We did it over two days stopping in Kansas to visit friends. The pictures are of Devils Tower in NE Wyoming and of my Father-in-laws farm on the edge of the Yellowstone River in SE Montana.

I just passed my IFR written. I used a combination of Aviation Seminars and ASA. If anyone would like feedback, send me a PM. Now on to the fun part.... or at least more fun.... the flying. #MooneyZoom Happy Mooney Girl

You may get some drops as the fuel injector lines boil and bubble fuel into the intake manifold due to heating. The drain is to prevent flooding and comes out of a fitting with a small ball check valve, aka sniffle valve. The line is low pressure fuel line. More than a few drops may indicate that the fuel divider not shutting off.

Im using this one: http://www.oasisscientific.com/vividia-va-400-rigid-usb-articulating-borescope-videoscope-inspection-camera.html Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It's amazing how much bigger the cabin looks with the long rear windows. I've got to upgrade my F to the long Windows like that!

Ha, I guess it does look like a soap dish holder in the picture. It is actually my Stratus 2 attached to the roof with Velcro. It works great, good GPS reception and is never in the sun so overheating is not an issue.

There could be a number of reasons, depending what the thief was looking for. Maybe they didn't find any money. Maybe the books "looked" important. One of my favorite (true) stories is about a a Public Defender who was asked to represent a defendant accused of a series of house breaks. His response was, "no, I have a conflict. The sonofabitch is wearing my sweater." We're pretty sure the thief wasn't looking for nice sweaters.

For those that digitize logs do you diy or have a service do it?

Damage is dependent upon the size of the stripper... ask Marauder.... Happy thanksgiving, -a-

It does fail to high RPM with a drop in oil pressure (i.e., the pump fails or seals fail). Your governor sounds like it had an internal, mechanical failure that froze the prop in coarse pitch. Getting a cable from McFarlane will save you about $35 over Don Maxwell or LASAR. You send McFarlane the dimensions and then let them know over the phone what type airplane it is for and they will send you the right one. Honestly, you should check the prices and probably just get one from DMax.

I pasted the same link in a second time and it worked! Go figure?

Hi, the stripper hasnt damaged anything the ailerons were always heavy and squeaky so we knew we had an issue somewhere going in. Wing corrosion, it is being sorted as we speak. Ive been in contect woth Paul Beck and he doesnt see it as a major issue. Andrew

I'll be sending David a PM and make sure we get a chance to share a photo with a great big steak.. Really looking forward to this trip. Probably don't need two stops, but we are in no hurry and a little stretch every couple of hours would not be a bad thing..

I've had to get SVFR clearances a few times lately and it was pretty straight forward. If KTYS is calling 4-5miles vis, you should expect 2-3 and just ask for SVFR clearance. The worst I have seen it the past month was 1.5mile vis on KTYS metar. As the post above noted, it's not a good idea to do it unless you have had lots of good practice on instruments..

The rear battery box is positive vented with tube facing forward and a vent facing back. There is a seal on the lid. To get the back cotter pin in on the latch up against the rear firewall is a PITA. Good luck with the plane running and bouncing around. It may be time to replace the cotter pin with a tractor pin spring key thingy. But it is only a several times a year thing. If you killed your battery and wanted to charge it correctly, you would need lunch, dinner and probably breakfast. Had the line guys jump a 172 with the plug on the firewall. I was scared for them. It violates my rule of moving in front of the wing with the prop turning.

Good news is you will have everything on the plane in new condition and should be able to fly for 10 years without major stuff.

Thanks. Here's the formula. A good 2x4 for backing, metal tools from Northern Tool, and Aerotouchups factory paint. Russ

Mine retract wayy too fast. And pulling out the little tab is a hassle. I just want manual johnson bar flaps like the cherokee with a push-button disengage.

I dislike the hydraulic flaps. I never understood that. Made the J-bar as simple to operate and maintain, and the same with the M20/A/B flaps, and then went to leaky hydraulic flaps in the C/D////

That's alright, we all start as VFR pilots. I finished my PPL 5/21/07, bought the Mooney 6/26/07 and completed IFR 4/30/10. Along the way I flew durn near 300 hours in the Mooney.

I'm just a 100 dnwnd, 90 base and 80 +/- (over the fence on final or as needed) pilot. I listen to the sweet engine noise in my ears as she tells me how I'm doing ... Looks like I really need to work on my technical aspect.

Bob, That depends on the aircraft being refueled. C-130s are refueled lower and generally in a dive so the Herk is fast enough for the tanker. Additionally, if it is helos being refueled it will be low altitude. The fighters will be higher since they are much more efficient at high altitudes.

Just stop with the useless ALTRVs, file and fly and random refuel. You don't need an ALTRV. They're outdated and you don't follow the route anyway, cancelling the ALTRV as soon as you depart the filed route or altitudes. Most fighters and b2's are UHF, the controller should turn off the VHF transmitters when broadcasting to a UHF, most don't, so you'll usually hear one side of the convo. Military callsigns are easy to pick out. If you hear "death one one" or "honeybadger tree four" etc. Something like reach five five will be VHF.

I have all my instrument students compute the numbers for this chart before starting any further training. Makes everything go smoother. 6 Configurations for plane.pdf

I was at an SM City Council meeting back when I lived there. The council began discussing various actual operational restrictions like altitudes, approach paths and the like. After a few minutes the then-city attorney awakened long enough to point out aircraft operations were an exclusively federal function over which the City had no lawful authority. One council member retorted with a big smile, "well, that's why they call us the People's Republic, right" and discussion continued unabated. The officials I watched didn't care about the law, just knew they could do what they wanted without consequence. These and subsequent (that was 20 yeas ago) elected officials have spent a LOT of money litigating. That money could have been spent on school books, lunches and teachers, additional police and fire services, or homeless shelter and food. It could've been rebated for solar panels or virtual reality helmets for airport-adjacent property owners to wear when outside so they see skyscrapers instead of an airport. Whatever your politics, it's hard to explain blowing millions of taxpayer dollars on litigation as anything but a shameless land grab. Unless voters understand how this conduct is affecting and will affect them, they won't replace these officials with ones who will spend their money more wisely.

It would take some descriptive writing that is beyond my skill as a writer. But go fly one and you'll see. There is a block that locks the gear in place. That block could become worn and cause an un-comanded gear collapse. But it would have to be warn WAY past any tolerances and can be easily inspected in the cockpit by the average pilot. Secondly if the gear handle is not seated in the block correctly, it could give way. Again, that is easily tested by a couple of different methods each time the gear is lowered. Either a thumbnail slid into the block, or my preferred method was just a solid yank on the handle. Go fly one, and you will forever more, look at electric gear with suspicion. "Is that electric gear really down and locked?" With the manual gear you can prove it every time.

What I have been calling "recognition" lights are actually small diameter LSA and Experimental "landing" lights. They are incredibly bright and just by themselves are useful landing lights. Since I have a LoPresti Boom HID landing light in the nose cone, I use a selector switch to alternate these wingtip lights as "recognition" lights, and anyone who has seen me approaching them in flight spots me at appreciable distances. These are far brighter than my LED strobes (or LED navigation lights) which are part of my wingtip installation. In fact the FAA inspector who came out from the FISDO to inspect them himself, said they were a "safety" item. I guess I was lucky, and the mechanics who did the actual installation and paperwork had a very good working relationship with the FISDO. In other aircraft, with other mechanics, I have had to have been persistent (13 months to substitute an alternator for the original generator in my Cessna 140) by proving this substitution made the aircraft safer. I don't give up easily. . Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I haven't looked at this thread in a long time, but thought I would post a photo from a recent trip to South Dakota for the Pheasant hunt season opener at KMHE. We left from KTYS in the morning and picked up my brother in Nashville, then went from there to Mitchell, SD. Weather was actually nice the whole way, and we stayed pretty low out of the stronger head winds. We made about 135-140kts ground speed most of the way out there.. on the way back, I saw 191kts ground speed as we were overtaking a front. It was interesting because the warm air was pushed up to 11k feet and it was 73 degrees F at 11k... the clouds were pushed up to about 10k too and we flew through a bunch of big nasty bugs as we went over clouds.. This picture was taken on the way out there low over Iowa wind farms. Windmills as far as you could see in every direction.

Now is a great time to develop your IFR power setting chart! Go up and record these numbers... 1. What MP/RPM to maintain straight and level at 90 kts or top of white arc clean 2. What MP/RPM to maintain straight and level at 90 kts or top of white arc dirty (gear down, TO flaps) 3. What MP/RPM to maintain 5-600 FMP down at 90 kts or top of white arc clean 4. What MP/RPM to maintain 5-600 FMP down at 90 kts or top of white arc dirty (probably the same as #1) Your plane will perform the same in or out of the soup. Setting the plane up to fly an approach, #1, then by lowering the gear (GS interept) and adding TO flaps will keep you on a nice 500-600 FPM decent.

My flight today from Miami to Jacksonville Florida. Clear skies, really bad headwind. Lake Okeechobee and the vehicle assembly building at Cape Canaveral.

I have just calculated how much cost a pound of fish when you go fishing on your $150k boat compare to one from the supermarket. Do you want to know the numbers?

Not in a '66E. But there's not that much holding it up and if you haven't had the headliner down in years you probably ought to do it. In addition to replacing that cable you probably will put fresh tape on the whole vent plenum and confirm that the drain line from the vent is connected and not plugged up. Again, I'm familiar with a '66 and it's possible your '63 is different.

My wife and I went from o69 to KCRQ and back today to visit family. 2h10m there and 2h35m returning. Doing this in a car is impossible! Doing this on a conventional airline would not be pleasant. Doing it in a Mooney - Wow!! Icing on the cake: for the first time my wife said she was really comfortable in the plane with a blanket she brought from home and that the blanket was staying in the plane. She also said "you woke me up on final and I was so comfortable". Wow!! (again). That blanket IS staying in the plane!!!!