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Since the inception of The Money Flyer way back from May 2012, I have read every single magazine online. Each edition has fresh information and tips and techniques which are timely and appropriate for the beginning Mooney owners as well as the most experienced pilots. This is a product of the hard work of Phil Corman from California. And the reason I recognize him is because, like us at the Mooney Summit, he provides his product completely for free. Yeah, he might get a few dollar from advertising, but not nearly enough to defray the cost of the man hours this requires. He and Jim work on the magazine full time and has about 10 contributors to help in the contents. This is no easy job. Especially when you have another job to do so he can pay the costs of producing The Flyer. Speaking with Phil today, he thinks like Mike and I. We love the Mooney community and love to make better pilots through education. So keep up the good work Phil and keep making the job of flying Mooney's more interesting, safer, and entertaining. Ron Dubin

I have done many Angel Flights in my '83 J. Here's what I do to ensure an acceptable mission: 1) does weight and balance work for the flight. Many customers will be quite large. I tended to ignore missions that comprised 2 passengers unless they had a combined reasonable weight. 2) are they capable of getting up and into the plane, ask when you schedule with them. Most will need some help as getting up on the wing can be tough, help them and let them know not to step on the flap. 3) ask what they are bringing, dont get surprised when you pick them up and they show up with something that wont fit in the plane, ie wheel chair. 4) many have a hard time finding where to meet at airports, make sure they know where to go to get picked up. 5) only happened to me once in the 50 flights that I have done but be prepared for air sickness, I always had a couple old bath towls and a plastic show box available. 6) if you have a buddy that likes to fly with you have him or her come along as a mission assistant. I do this most of the time and it usually limits the flight a single passenger flights because of weight. 7) lastly let them know when you schedule that the flight is in a small plane and is weather dependent, dont be afraid to cancel if the weather doesnt cooperate. Angel Flights are a good way to put purpose into our flying, give it a try and see how it works. Gerry

I’ve done angel flights too. Just stepping back a moment... Makes me proud of our community that so many of us have - and to those that haven’t, let me add to those that are saying it’s some of the most rewarding flying you’ll do, go check it out! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, made at my home field. My boss has an experimental made from Varga parts when they went out of business. It was assembled by their chief engineer. It is the plane he always wanted to make. A tail dragger with a bubble canopy. I flew it a couple of weeks ago.

After reviewing the ATC transcripts I determined it was only 4-1/2 min from take off to deep slumber. I would guess only the first min would fall under “useful conciseness”. I was aware of a problem after that but didn’t have the cognitive ability at that point to trouble shoot and take action. Unfortunately Maj. Mari Metzler was called away on assignment and missed the Mooney Summit this year. She was going to present on CO Poisoning and hypoxia/altitude sickness. I spoke with her on the phone before the summit and she urged me to never fly my mooney in the Flight Levels. She said she was hoping to convince everyone at the summit to consider giving up flying above 18k. I didn’t ask her to elaborate as I thought I would get to hear her at the Summit. For the past several years she has been focused on hypoxia and altitude sickness in the air force. I suspect she has some compelling evidence. Hopefully she can make the Summit next year. I plan on keeping my 231 bellow 18k for now. If my airplane was equipped with alt preselect, like @gsxrpilot, I would consider going higher. Cheers, Dan

Nice work, Dan... http://www.pilotfriend.com/aircraft performance/varga.htm Best regards, -a- I found a Flickr photo of a similar Cessna next to a varga on a grass field. The varga is missing it’s prop in the photo. Can't find away to post it... turns out, it is the same planes in a better state of disrepair... at twin pines.... Daniel Berek is the photographer. He seems to be a photographer of many things airworthy and not so airworthy....

Some don't fly unpressurized in the flight levels. Some don't fly IFR Some don't fly singles at night Some don't fly small airplanes Some don't fly It's all risky... but there's a reason I fly a 252 and it's not to stay low. Flying home to Austin from San Francisco late one night, IFR, I was comforted by the time and options that FL250 over the Sierra Nevada's and FL210 over west Texas would give me. The flight ended very uneventfully and on schedule just before 1am safely back in my hangar at KHYI.

News from Mooney Girls.... our new hats are in. If you would like to purchase one, just let me know. We have a special going on through the holidays. $50 gets our awesome v-neck ladies t-shirt, plus the MG hat, plus a lanyard or a bracelet. We can ship most anywhere, actual shipping will be applied. Their debut will be at AOPA in Tampa this weekend. Shoot me a PM or email: MooneyAmbassadors@charter.net I will be wearing mine on Saturday!!

After having a very rough start with a gaggle of squawks I have finally been flying N9623M regularly. I appreciate all your guy's help in the beginning. She is consuming money at a lower and lower rate now and it is a blast although tricky to slow down at first. I have about 12 dual and 12 solo in it so far Best landings were after reading this forum this is how I have been landing it: Descent: Cowl flaps closed, Lower manifold to 16" then prop to 19" manifold will rise to 19 and you get 19 squared. Then lean and descend at about 400-500 fpm at about 150-160 mph. I lean to keep cht at 300F got this from an article, I'll get the name later and amend post. Down wind: MP 17" Prop Full, Mix Full, Gear Down, Two pumps of flaps (my flaps are exactly 4 pumps to full), this gets 100 mph. Base: Before I turn base I fly past abeam for 36 seconds this gets me set up for a 1 mile final. Then I lower MP to 12" add one pump and turn base aiming for 700 FPM loss in the turn. Then I level out and trim to 90MPH Final: When I turn final I again try to lose 700 FPM in the turn so that I do not load the wings at this slow airspeed. Then I level out and have to pull almost all the power full flaps and I trim out to 80-85 mph depending on gust and trim all the way back ( I used to not do this and the flair was heavy!). Pull power all out when runway is assured and the result is in the video. Instructor got freaked out at 80, I told him I had done a bunch, he was worried about a stall so I raised it to 85 but it floats with a higher risk of porpoise. I was lost with final at 100 mph and float city before I came back to this forum. Now I land shorter than alot of the 172s. I have about 50-60 landings in the plane. I have done a ton of go-arounds and touch and goes, trim before adding power in touch and go or get ready to bench press your own weight, lol! Any tips or advice is appreciated, these numbers are still raw except on down wind those are pretty good. The power settings in the rest may need more dialing in. Adam Mooney_Landing_BXK_2.MOV

Already under contract on a 08 with perspective. Goes into ppi today.

Yes, Flight Levels begin at FL180 where you change altimeter to 29.92.

One suggestion is to make a speed card (the attached one is one I use for IFR flying) and use this as a starting point. It is particularly helpful if you post this card directly in front of the co-pilot seat where the instructor can see it clearly. I started doing this when flying with CFIIs on IPCs who were absolutely convinced they knew how to fly a vintage Mooney with low gear speeds. As Bob mentioned, the variables (wind, hotter/colder temps) will require you to fine tune these power settings to achieve the proper speed for landing. And the speed for landing does vary a bit based on weight, winds, etc. One thing that you mentioned that does come into play is the final trimming. When I first bought my Mooney, I had only manual trim. This resulted in a fairly active right hand trimming out the forces. And an even more active right hand trimming them out on a go around. Eventually the sight picture will become more recognizable and you will know whether any adjustments are needed.

I've been flying mercy flights since 1994 and, up until recently, they accounted for 50% of my flying. I would guess nearly half the hours on my "past TBO" Rocket engine were accumulated doing donated medical flights. The last couple years I have backed off some, trying to complete the project plane that had run WAY longer than I anticipated when embarking on that adventure. Being the longest active pilot in the organization (Steve, my hangar partner is the only longer involved member, but has had many periods of inactivity) I routinely am asked to speak about our organization, Northwoods Airlifeline ( http://www.northwoodsairlifeline.org ). I could, and may, write a book on the many experiences I've had during this commitment. We were started by a great man, Bob Larson, almost 30 years ago and have performed thousands of flights since inception. We fly primarily patients from the U.P. and Northeastern Wisconsin to regional medical centers (Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Rochester, MN, and Minneapolis). I have done flights to CT, FL, TN, VA, NC, and MO as well. I will say it's one of the most rewarding experiences I have done in life. That said, Joe, go for it! Our organization requires 500 hours and an IFR ticket, but we are more restrictive the other mercy flight organizations (a large portion of the flights are done in organizational owned aircraft). Get accepted to fly with one of the organizations, pick good weather and a mission that works, and you will provide a service that rewards you as much as it does the patient. I will share just one of hundreds of mercy flight stories, one that may relate to others doing flights with Mooneys. I flew over in the dead of winter to Newberry, a small community on the eastern end of the U.P. The trip was to take an older lady to Rochester MN. There were 20+MPH winds and snow blowing everywhere with a temp below zero. The patient arrived AFTER I did, but in an ambulance.........? I said "we are not supposed to be doing flights for patients that are not ambulatory (capable of self boarding and no assistance during the flight)". Her husband assured me she could board and was brought from the hospital by ambulance "as a precaution". Well, when she got up to walk, it was pretty clear getting on the wing was going to be with serious assistance, and stepping down in to the front seat was not going to happen. As I assessed the situation, realizing they had no other option.... she would die in Newberry if I didn't get her to Rochester (there is no way they could afford an air ambulance), I decided to pull the front seat and board her in the back, making the step down much more doable. Long story short, the husband got to see his wife again a few months later, as she returned home to finish out her life with him. I made a special trip back a few days later and picked up my front seat............. but with a pretty good feeling in my heart about how that went down. To be clear though, flights requiring this type of assistance have been very rare, as our flight coordinator does a much better job today determining the patient's capabilities before accepting the mission. Tom

Dan, Mari (Mars) is a fixture at the Mooney Summit, and yes, it was unfortunate she was called away at the last minute. She always provides entertaining and insightful seminars on physiology of pilots. Thats her day job also. She is involved with hypobaric chamber at Tyndall, and regularly sees that our boys that fly the F22's are fit to fly. As a pilot herself, she knows what we are facing. She really gets how dangerous it is for the human body, not just the lack of O to be in the FL's . She is just one of the people that convinced me to keep the Bravo out of the FL's and did so with empirical data, not just suggestive opinion. She is a very smart, pleasant professional. She will be back at the Summit's

May I suggest you begin by going to your Angel Flights Chapter website and review their qualifications to act as command pilot. It should list 250 hrs as PIC or a commercial license and 75 hours of PIC x-ctry time. It will also list additional requirements about your plane insurance, current flight review etc. Assuming you meet those basic requirements then sign up for their next command pilot orientation meeting. The orientation meeting will introduce you their rules and procedures - generally over a Saturday morning. They are generally very good and informative and should answer all your questions. At least that is what they are. Once you complete their process and attend the orientation you will be able to accept and fly Angel Flight mission. I don't know much variation there is in different chapters but I assume they all pretty much follow the same rules or procedures. Its a good opportunity to help others out in need while also getting a tax deduction for your efforts.

I like the discussion better. Looking at photos of abandoned Mooney’s is really depressing.

Gotcha covered.

All these are good suggestions especially an alarm if you are not getting flow to the mask. However I am hear to tell you having personally experienced hypoxia every four years during my aviation physiology refresher in the Navy and also experiencing it once in an F-14, all the alarms, bells and whistles wont help if you’re already hypoxic. The key is to know your own hypoxia symptoms which we experienced every time in a pressur chamber. Mine are sweats, burning in my finger extensions and irritability. The second time I experienced hypoxia in the Hornet I felt the symptoms, we got down to below 24K (pressurized cabin with a cabin altitude below 10K) and canceled the mission. Turns out it was my OBOGS regulator wasn’t working properly which the PR’s found post flight. If you are a “fly above 10k” guy and you have the chance to execute a pressure chamber ride I highly recommend it because you won’t forget what it feels like. Plus the eye opener of having little to know cognitive ability. In the chamber my task was to stack alternating shaped blocks. Passing through 19k without O2 on our way up to 25K I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do and just sat there with blocks in my hand. I was awake but not functioning. If you think you’re going to have the ability to remember to descend let alone the motor skills to do it, you won’t. If you can’t get a chamber experience, it’s always good to review yourself during your pre flight brief the hypoxia symptoms. I think you can find them in the Basic MED lecture series and splattered all through AOPA online. If your climbing through +/- 15K and your sweating with air vent open and an outside temp of 0 deg Celsius and don’t feel right or maybe it’s taking you longer time than usual to dial a frequency in, it might be time to check your flow.

Part of me thinks we should have bought an acclaim...

Glad you’re OK Bob. The Yukon tossed on top of the Audi reminds us how strong those things can get! Glad it missed the Vampire... Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Glad we are sparking some conversation. A bit of a double meaning. Mooneys are fast, and not easy to fly [necessarily]. Mooney Girls fly fast, but are complicated and not easy to understand. Just fun fun fun

No because the crankcase closes up below the crank. There are a few slots for oil to drain through but no way to sneak a borescope through that, then past the crank to the cam.

It’s the alveolar gas equation that takes into account water content and pressure but not temperature as it’s assumed that your lung gas is 37c in you. So you’re both half correct. My dog dog had a seizure at 6500 yesterday- probably from hypoxia induced hyperventilation and hypocalcemia. We went down to 4500 in a hurry and he was fine after some pets. He’s getting too old to fly and needs to hang up his wings now. Altitude affects everyone differently. Also don’t assume you can descend immediately if you’re in the FLs. Ice or terrain may hinder descending to a safe altitude if you have an O2 system problem. Probably need out plan A, B, C.

I recently signed up with Angel Flight East. They have been great to work with! I am looking forward to flying my first mission as command pilot this weekend!

Nice landing! Show your instructor the stall speed chart in your POH. I have a J, but if I were landing with 400# of pilots and 100# (16 gallons) of gas, I'd be using 66 KIAS (76 mph) on final so your 80 sounds pretty good. Personally I use the TLAR method (That Looks About Right) for pattern work. Try not to become too mechanical. Lots can change like winds, pattern altitude, weight, and traffic for example. It's good to have a starting point for power settings, but if the plane isn't doing what you want then deviate from those settings to get what you want. For example: Strong tailwind at altitude/headwind on landing? Turn base early. Tailwind for landing? Turn base late. Strong crosswind? Fly wider/tighter than normal downwind to compensate. Slow traffic in front of you? Turn base later, carry more power, fly a shallower descent. Enjoy.

I use a pulse ox meter and adjust to mid 90s saturation. That generally requires less flow than the "floating ball" meter suggests. Dont forget density altitude is what your lungs experience, not MSL. On warm days in the Southwest I have been at 9,000 when DA is above 12,000.

MIM, What engine monitor do you have? The chances of running an O360 LOP very well, are pretty small. There is no control over the fuel distribution. Doing it at higher %bhp is going to be interesting. How Good is the condition of your dog house? Cylinder cooling depends heavily on how well the dog house is working. M20Cs with old dog houses often need some sheet metal help. Extending the idea of running LOP, while under pressure, with crummy fuel distribution, sounds like a handful. You might want to share a flights worth of engine monitor data... EGTs and CHTs can be pretty interesting in an ordinary flight... MP and %bhp data are a bonus...! Are you familiar with the 'red box' theory? A Method to avoid engine hazards... Best regards, -a-

It looks like a Varga. great photo. Cheers, Dan

Sometimes it's better to pay the price for service. Last year 2016, after Oshkosh we again stopped in Rapid City. When I'm traveling in the summertime I ALWAYS have my plane hangared no matter the cost (Usually reasonable). As we passed the airport on our way to the hotel after spending the day out at the Badlands, one of the fiercest storms I have ever experienced crossed our path. The rain and hail and lightning was so strong that I had to pull over and was afraid the windshield was going to crack. It lasted nearly 15 minutes. Thank goodness the plane was hangared! I'll gladly pay for good service and WestJet gives it.

In my first Mooney purchase, an F, this is what we found upon the ferry flight home. Needless to say, I drained and drained until I had 5-7 cups of fully clean blue fuel. Promptly the o-rings were changed after we got home. Not to completely derail, I retract as soon as positive rate is established to gain as much altitude. Tough to use *runway behind you" or the runway below you.

Ditto, I've never seen water in the fuel. But I check for it on every flight without fail whether I've added fuel or even if the plane has not left her cozy hangar. Some anal behavior when we're talking check lists might just save your bacon.

One thing I do whether solo or with a copilot, is to have the altitude preselect armed for a lower altitude with a pretty high rate of decent. With that configured, it only takes one button push to send us down to thicker air and level off there.

You shouldn't have said that around these parts. Cuz we all know the FACT that an acclaim is waaaaay cooler. And faster. Waaaaay!

I do one thing very differently from a lot of you guys. I drop my gear and pump in full flaps well before I hit the downwind, usually a few miles out. My thinking is once I get into the pattern my eyes could be outside, looking for traffic and at conditions, and not messing with the airplane. I loose a couple minutes, well worth it for safety. If a CFI harped on my to time legs and watch speeds I'd fire him on the spot. If he wants to time legs have at it, my eyes belong outside. GA aircraft rarely land the same way twice. Density altitude, wind, obstacles, field length, aircraft weight and lots of other things affect landings. I think the key here is to be able to manage pitch and power intuitively based on what the airplane is doing, not follow some set drill every time. My biggest frustration is I really don't have that intuitive feel yet. I will.

I have had the same experience, about two full samplers of clear liquid and it looked just like this. The plane had flown through some precip a few days before and I immediately had our A&P come out to replace the O-rings, no problems since.

Thanks for the email, Kris. I haven't had a chance to update MooneyGirls.com

So when people say they avoid the flight levels, what does this mean? FL17? Or are they saying the 20s? I often go 17/18, and rarely have I been above 19, specifically because it feels "spooky" at 20+ in the sense that I am hyper aware of how inhospitable it gets as you go up from there. I have not been working it as a problem as a "line in the sand" not to cross though, but I am thinking about it. I am in excellent cardio health, as far as they come, for an aging graying, stereotypical ga pilot dude. I have also been thinking about, for reasons of pure convenience, to let my standard 3rd class medical go when it is time next summer, and then go with the new medical standard that came out - the only thing extra that I can do with the 3rd class medical that I couldn't otherwise do is to fly 18 and above, which maybe we should all decide isn't a good idea anyway. I love flying between 14 to 18 on the east coast, since it is very quiet there. To high for most GA, and too low for the jets. In the north east corridor, I nonetheless get really good routing, and very rarely need to be pointed out traffic. Plus the turbo gets to be pretty fast there. But even so, I sometimes will fly in the mid teens into a strong headwind for the other reason I like to fly high - like I fly direct over our local mountains (Adirondacks) and high teens over the lakes, even into a headwind, since I am thinking gliding distance, that altitude/glide distance is the parachute. My feeling is that at 17 I might have a good chance to react and descend if need be, and I have tested this with a copilot at my side. Much higher - and maybe not. So I choose altitudes accordingly.

I wonder what ingredient is time limited. Avoil lasts a long time. I know people who bought surplus 55 gallon barrels of oil from WW11 and used it in their R1820s. No date of manufacture, but obviously not recent. Perhaps the components separate? Perhaps the use-by date is to prevent stocking up when it goes on sale?

Fookz there's quite a few of us on the Delmarva, NJ, Pa area

Just a small update to tell you there isn't anything to tell you yet. Didn't do any flying this month... Few flights planned but all had to be cancelled due to the lovely Dutch weather...

Don, if you are looking for an entry level welder that has some welding ability more than a hobby box look at a Millermatic 211. It comes with everything you need but a gas bottle, its pretty much auto sensing (set it and forget it) and it will weld steel and stainless from 24 ga to 3/8. If you are just learning to MIG then also make sure to get a 220V machine because it will allow for longer duty cycles. (the amount of time you squeeze the trigger).. If you want to weld aluminum then look for a TIG machine from Lincoln. The Lincoln line makes several TIG machines that will far out perform Miller. Last don't go cheap on a helmet you only have one set of eyes. Get an auto darkening one that runs on batteries not solar power or arc light. Praxair is a good source for welding supplies and their sales department can offer good recommendations. Harbor freight would not be my first or even second choice even though the prices are very appealing. Their machines even the 220V ones have very short duty cycles and the helmets they sell are very slow to switch. I've used them and after an hour or two I can tell that my eyes have been flashed. Just my two cents. Joe

Wow, Anthony. Nice find.

I haven't been solo above 17,000 this century in unpressurized aircraft. Others may do so safely but I decided long ago not to go into FL in unpressurized planes.

Falcon is just brokering for the underwriter. Its the underwriter who dictates the restrictions. All legitimate brokers will price the same undewritters. -Robert

Mooney Space

In Lake Wobegone, All of the children are above average.

The sad truth in this is if you were given these airplanes for free you would have to spend more than they're worth to get them airworthy. Unless you were an A&P of course. Then you'd still spend more than the airplane is worth, but not quite as much.

This is just my opinion, upon positive rate get the gear(drag) up. I personally want altitude and airspeed, keeping the gear down just slows down getting either one of those, or both. The kiss rule applies here, if we teach students to retract upon positive rate each time, every time, then one less thing to think about when in a high density or short field situation. I suspect we could use the theory of each knot over proper landing speed increases the landing distance by 100 feet. So take off at 70 climbing out at 90 with gear down then an engine failure, may cause a 2000 foot increase in landing distance, never mind distance eaten up by loosing the altitude to get back down to the runway, but that's going to happen fast at 90 unless we trim for different. Someone should try this on a real long runway( I don't want to do it in my airplane ) Normal take off, leave gear down, climb out at VX or VY, at 200 ft, engine to idle, land at normal landing speeds, and see how much runway is used, I suspect it will be lots more than we thought

And because the manufacturers have found that pilots disregard what's written and do as they please.

My gear comes up as soon as we break ground. The flaps come up as soon as the inevitable settling won't cause any issues with obstacles or terrain.