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We should strive for perfection. I think this poll shows it is hard the achieve. Designers also strive for perfection, but the regulations and design standards recognize human and machine fallibility. I think this poll also shows that there are some nice redundancies built into our machines and checklists. Miss a pitot cover on walk around, hopefully we see it on takeoff roll. Miss it there and training takes over…we hope. Miss a gust lock on preflight, hopefully catch it on the control sweep. This one gets tougher if you get airborne, so it’s important to not let errors stack up. There is a risk when we add modifications and our own protective measures without thinking failure modes. I’ve seen a number of well intentioned safety devices or design ideas that end up being more hazardous than the one they intend to prevent. Let’s all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Try not to rush, try to check things twice. Strive for that perfect flight. In the words of Rob Holland, Fly Good, Don’t Suck.

Anybody who says they have never made a mistake has delusions of grandeur. The more you fly the more opportunity you have for mistakes. Most people don’t make the same mistakes twice. But this isn’t absolute. So, the more you fly, the more mistakes you make, and you hopefully won’t make again. Thats why the airlines want you to have a bunch of hours before they will hire you. They want you to make most of your mistakes before you get there.

This poll needs an option for leaving the oil cap off after adding a quart.

Well I’m gonna leave mine on. If you’re behind me, you can call me on tower if you want, but then at least I know you saw me!

I had my F at 14,500 a couple times because of the turbulence and to get over forest fire smoke. I fly a lot from Spokane down to Reno. It was never fun up there. The plane feels very underpowered and we all need some type of oxygen but none is built in and simple. I was very anal about only flying in the morning because of exactly what you said. Unfortunately that (and high DA takeoff) meant leaving grandmas house early a lot. Now with the K, we can leave at noon and just climb right up to 16,500’ where it’s cool and smooth and we’ve all got cannulas on from O2D2s and the big built in tank. Never mind that the airplane ends up much faster and actually (surprisingly) uses the same total fuel for the trip as my F.

Instead of saying “unless unsafe” it should say “unless practicable.” Common sense (airmanship) is severely lacking these days. People taxiing around day or night with high intensity lights on just “because it says so” with no regard for other aviators is far too prevalent. (Among other things.) I come from the “big iron” world also, and it’s embarrassing to be caught with your strobes on while taxiing. Usually, you’ve got about 7 seconds before the guy in lineup behind you chides you on the frequency. Best practice is to turn them on when entering an active runway and off again once clear. If you have a lower intensity beacon light to leave on instead, all the better.

After the last adjustments, AeroCruze is pretty much dialed in. Did simulated IFR with my CFII, ton of AP practice with approaches, Misses, and procedure turns, did excellent. Very pleased and I also tested the ‘Go Around’ mode too on the miss! Very capable autopilot for sure… -Don

Ok, do you carry your preflight checklist with you when you preflight your plane? Does your checklist have items for each individual chock or tie down? Or does it have just “remove wheel chocks” and “remove tie downs”? Do you just read through the preflight checklist after you are sitting in the pilots seat? If so, it could ask if you removed the chocks and you removed the mains, but forgot the nose, or one of the mains. Your brain remembers removing chocks, but you did only two of the three because you were distracted. For me, I have taken off about 5500 times and forgot a chock or tie down about 5 times. That is an error rate of 0.09% That ain’t bad.

Striving for perfection is admirable; claiming it, well, not so much.

Wait, What? Tell me it isn’t true…..

Or, have poor memories.

Nice. I think that all authorized Starlink retailers have these for 229 now - I got one at Home Depot and Best Buy also has them for 229. You can get direct from Starlink for the same price, but Starlink charges shipping.

Check this. Follow oil return lines Under the cylinders, pita to reach.

These are the covers I make, they are for ETA switches (like the ones I have on my '85 J Model)

Maybe you should send some of those to your clients . . . .

Everyone needs to go back a few steps anytime they get distracted on preflight and also do a walkaround, at a distance, of the entire aircraft. Phone call interrupt your preflight? Go back a bit and do a walkaround. Prop strikes Tow bars and FBO traffic cones are *such* common claims. Old Republic (the insurance underwriter) even has branded "Tow Bar Removed?" embroidered keychain straps.

I've only just purchased this Bruce cover so I have not yet had the chance to forget to remove it before flight. The warning placard is so small, hopefully I do not forget.

Fake? Aviation News (Key Publishing) November Issue. Found it on Facebook.

Problem with the super thick like a yellow pages checklists is just don’t get used or followed as much. Checklist is like a resume, shouldn’t be over one page.

Indeed, now I try to get into habit of using checklists on types that I don’t fly that often, at least on first flight after a while. Same, I never touched Mooney parking break (I probably did but I don’t remember when ).

This is the beginning of the Pre-Flight Inspections in my Owners Manual, which I copied and keep on my kneeboard. There's a similar section for the right wing. But no, I no longer carry it with me. I've owned my Mooney for 18 years now, most of the checklists are in my head, but also on my kneeboard for reference.

The parking brake in my Mooney is useless, so I never bother with it. I've taken off with the parking brake on in the C182s, though. That's pretty easy to do, especially if you're used to it not being a factor at all.

So far 9,152 landings according to my log. Never anything crazy but I’ve forgotten stuff, left sunglasses in planes, had a student forget a gas cap on a 2 seater early on in the CFI days, thank god for the little chain and me sitting in the back lol I’ve caught a good bit of stuff too, one thing I will say about being a CFI is it quickly tightens you up on some areas that help you throughout your career, especially later on with new FOs. Was with a buddy of mine who stone cold sober and in the middle of the day drove his car off with the gas nozzle still in it, they are actually made to break away because that happens, Indian gas station guy wasn’t too happy, my friend is now at a legacy. Stuff happens, “failures” happen, just fail forward

I just checked my logbook about the last time I did it. I’m good for the next 750 hours. I probably won’t make it that far, so statistically, I’m bulletproof!

Sorry, no way I believe there are perfect pilots. Exactly!

It’s not impossible for that to be the truth between both of your high time friends, but it’s HIGHLY improbable

I think they're just meticulous. Not lucky.

Can’t you repurpose the high voltage wire from the strobe power supply to the tube? If there wasn’t an existing strobe in the tail, you will need to run a new wire.

Sounds good. Unless it is mentioned in the TCDS. It isn’t required. I don’t think it is. Besides, those covers are used in biz jets. They cost about $400 each.

Thank you. Those look similar to the one on the LASAR site. Probably would work but, if I can't find one like I have or fix it, I'll probably just remove it and pretend like it was never there.

Maybe one of these would work. https://www.appliedavionics.com/switch-guards-panel-plugs.html

Had a A&P check it out he said that I was missing a screw on the cylinder head cap which is the grey caps towards the top of the engine, however that cylinder was not the issue. He said the front cylinder cover cap had a bit of oil so it might be the gasket. However, he tighten the cylinder head cover cap and then told me to keep an eye on it. If it still leaks it may need new gaskets where the cap goes. Will keep you guys updated.

Me either (feelings). Looky there, common ground.

Closing the loop. . . New shock disks installed, washer installed after measuring the tracking limits (which were VERY far forward after new pucks). Old pucks and new were not* all too different in height, which I found a bit shocking. The aircraft is a night and day difference on the runway now at speed. totally controllable. Very thankful for the insight and encouragement from you all on my new venture into aircraft ownership. Oh, and other good news is that the slop noticed with nose gear when on jacks had no affect on runway, just the slight play during slow taxi. Thanks again!

Many of our planes are equipped with LEDs instead of strobes. The LEDs are bright, but not even close to a strobe. The Gulfstream probably has real strobes. Xenon strobe vs LED flashing lights:

Common sense > LOI Taxing around with your strobes on (esp at night near others) is not smart, what a bunch of failure to launch GSs at OKC say is meaningless, which is why they even figured to add the “unless unsafe” to the wording.

If it's the upholstery on the inside of the door, call Aero Comfort and talk to Hector. https://aerocomfort.com/contact/

Which means off during taxi

One thing to consider is that in the west where you takeoff at 3500-6500 MSL that in the summer the turbulence starts low and moves up through the air mass as the day progresses, this means your time window of smooth air is narrow. So if you fly in the early morning you can go up to the normal 9500-11500 MSL and you have smooth air. Later in the day (10am-Noon) the air in that range is really bumpy but a couple thousand feet higher it is still smooth and also conveniently cooler. I’ve had some miserable flights at 11500 and 12500 staring at some clouds slightly above my altitude that I know if I climbed above them I’d be in smooth air. Unfortunately in the summer the climb rate to get another 3000 feet is pretty dismal. For example, earlier this summer I was flying from Spokane to Salt lake at 11500 and was getting bumped around which was making my wife and two of my kids very uncomfortable. I spent a while doing a series of zoom climbs and eventually got up to 13500. At that altitude it was nice and smooth all the way from WA to UT with the exception of the decent into our destination airport. Eventually it will get bumpy at 13500 and you might need 15500 for smooth air. No guarantees of course but this is how things generally work. Without a turbo you aren’t getting to 15500 in the summer. If It sounds like I have turbo envy it’s because I do. One other consideration is that if you want to file IFR there are many MEAs that exceed my naturally aspirated Mooneys capability, especially in the summer. My Mooney is fine if you respect its limitations, but sometimes I don’t like those limitations.

Wheels down for landing... everything else is just a detail.

Your oil return line clamps probably need tightened.

I got my airplane out of the avionics shop just to taxi back to my hangar. Did a half-ass walk around and climbed in. It was right in front of tge fbo fence on a beautiful morning and there were a bunch of people and kids watching the airplanes from just the other side of the fence. I waved at a few kids and cranked it up. Next thing I knew, the two little red flags on my cowl covers (and the entire cowl cover assembly itself) were violently ripped from the intake and thrown across the ramp. The engine was idling peacefully. I swallowed a large piece of humble pie, shutdown, climbed out (now not looking at anyone), and retrieved my covers. Then I climbed back in and prayed she would start perfectly, cranked her up and taxiied to my hangar. Ouch.

Most likely running down from above. There is no oil behind the O-rings.

Hey all! My name is Philip, and I fly Dassault Falcon jets and run a mobile A&P business based out of the upper Midwest. I picked up a unique little E model Mooney as another service rig for the business, so figured I'd join and get involved with this awesome community! This E model is unique because one of the past owners put a lot into making it just like a mini-J model. It has every offered speed mod, a beautifully done original 201 paint scheme, electric gear, one piece belly, wingtips, speed brakes, and much more. The most interesting part is that it received a single aircraft approval STC for a Lycoming IO-360-C1D6 engine, which uses a 6.3 and 8th order counterweight on the crankshaft, just like the J model engines (A1B6D & A3B6D). Finishing it off, the engine is mated with a round-tip J model propeller and spinner. I've been a long-time viewer of this group, and the content here has helped tremendously when working on client's aircraft. I'm glad to now be a part of this group and hopefully I'll be able to contribute even just a fraction of the value and knowledge that is held within this community!

Track Log flying the SID and the approach:

Autopilot is pretty much dialed in. One more calm day to verify and that should be it, 2 hour flight today with an approach, HILP. Very bumpy on the approach but did well enough. So far learning the AeroCruze has been straight forward and GPSS, HDG, ALT HOLD, and Approach mode is pretty nice… -Don

Gear indicator light on the unlock went out so replaced both with aerolights led: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GH2NWV9 Pretty easy to replace. Touched up the co-pilots carpet for the velcro. Flight test tomorrow for the AP adjustments…

Hmm, from his website: "Anthony G. Ison is an aviation attorney born and raised in Lakeland, Florida, which consequently is home to the annual Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-in and Expo." I'm not sure which of the following is more troubling: 1) That his ego is so big that he believes that Sun 'n Fun is a consequence of his birth. 2) That an attorney doesn't know the difference between coincidences and consequences. 3) That he lacks the attention to detail to bother to notice this error (assuming it's not 1 or 2) Don't think I'll be hitting this 'easy button' YMMV

Hello all, After a rough couple months of spam-bot invasions I have decided to make some critical changes to the way new users to the community are validated and how Supporter level memberships work. Here are the key changes: When a new account is created here it will be placed in a group called Unverified Members. This group can browse the site but cannot create any new content. To upgrade this account to a Verified Member you have two options: a) pay a $2 fee for instant validation which is good for the life of the account or b) contact me @mooniac58 with a picture/scan of your valid ID to prove you are who you say you are. The old manual $10 minimum donation for upgrade to Supporter level has been replaced with a $25/year automatic subscription system that will renew every year on its own unless you cancel it. No more waiting for me manually upgrade your account, etc. Those that purchase the $2 instant validation will get a $2 credit towards their first year of Supporter level access...so $23 for the first year and $25 thereafter. Generic Donations: Separate from the membership plans, users can still donate arbitrary amounts to support the site using the new donations page. Those that donated prior to today with the old system will continue to have Supporter access until 12 months from your last donation as long as that was $10 or more. These are the current membership levels for members: Unverified Members - New accounts, can browse site, cannot create content or message others. Verified Members - Either paid the $2 fee or proved in another way that they are a real person. Can post new content but not in classified forums. Limited to 200MB total storage for attachments, photos and other files. Supporter Members - Signed up for $25/year subscription. Do not see advertisements on site. Able to post non-commercial topics on the classified forums. Storage limit of 1GB. Sponsor Members - These accounts have paid a fee to have a limited number of commercial posts on the forums (usually 1 per month limit). Some final notes: While I am confident new spam-bots are not being registered on the site, I am quite sure that they have dormant accounts that were created in the past that still exist undetected. For this reason we have and will see brief uprisings where they rise up and make a bunch of spam posts. We will ban each of these as they occur and wipe the content. I don't expect much of this and the past few days have been clear skies here. If you created an account prior to August 5, 2025 and did the normal email based activation then you are in the Verified Member group. No one was downgraded during this process and you don't need to do anything to validate your account. Please do not do the $2 validation process (I am still working on hiding this option for everyone except unvalidated accounts in the site). I will be making small changes here and there to try and make it more clear how new users validate their accounts. For now I hope newly registered members find their way to this topic to get the instructions. Eventually I hope to figure out how to customize the site more to guide new members through the process better. And lastly a big thanks to everyone who has supported this community over the past 17 years! Craig