Leaderboard

"TFR's, MOA's and Restricted areas are in place for YOUR safety as a GA pilot. Please be careful. Please check the TFR's prior to flying and please adhere to them." Of course we understand MOA's, etc. and the need to absolutely be aware and informed. That is part of being a safe pilot. As we travel forward, we continue to loose more airspace for us to fly in. We keep reading that there are less and less of us small ga pilots in the air, so adding more and more airspace restrictions doesn't seem logical due to an increase in traffic and for our safety. I offer the following examples for airspace loss for us; UAV's airspace issues, West Coast NOAA [not FAA] airspace marine sanctuary airspace restrictions, the permanent TFR over Disneyland, and the continued overzealous use of the TFR for the space shuttle/747 travel. The shuttle has traveled across country many, many times in this configuration for years without this TFR nonsense. I don't recall hearing about one instance when there was an issue with another aircraft interference. For me, the TFR is appearing to be a blank check. Safety is without a doubt, most important in our flying. Where do we draw the line though ? Where do we stop being able to think and be responsible on our own, without a restriction or airspace grab telling us where and when we can fly. Are we that stupid or unable to be thinkers, that we really need this? If so, maybe we shouldn't be flying airplanes at all?

My opinion, the TFR is, in most cases, vastly over used. As with TSA restrictions on us at our general aviation/commercial airports throughout our Country, it only serves to curtail our freedoms to fly, have normal acces to our airplanes, and punish innocent people. A TFR for the Space Shuttle Endeavor ? Are you kidding me?

I agree 100%, who is making up the TFR list. He must not be a pilot. I just bought an I-pad and foreflight so I can check out where the TFR's are. TFR's and TSA's are putting the crunch on us.

Let's not forget that there was a supreme court ruling on freedom of travel. None of us want to be the test case, but TFRs go against this.

For those of you that may think our Oceano Airport threat has gone away, or did not ever exist, I offer the following information from the ever persistent developer heard yesterday morning at our weekly Tuesday morning San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors public meeting. If you say something long and loud enough, it can easily become truth unless we confront and fight. And this is what we continue to do here as Friends of Oceano Airport! If you are not involved at your airport, I strongly suggest you become so and stay vigilant! "Our friend - NOT - little Jeffy Edwards, once again, just a few moments ago, appearing before the SLO Board of Supervisors has just finished calling the Oceano Airport a "storage facility for recreational vehicles that is trying to disguise itself as an airport", and he is "just not clear on what is going on here". Maybe Mr. Edwards is 'just not clear' on a lot of things."

While we are on the subject of TFRs let's not forget the TFR over the Disney since 9-11 that in my mind is not temporary. TFRs are over used and will be put in place at the drop of a hat. Also you have the sporting event TFRs which are not published anywhere and will not show up on Foreflight or any other device or website but they do exist and these TFRs do not achieve any security or safety. TFRs for wild fires or other emergencies where you have a large number of aircraft working the emergency can provide a level of safety for the aircraft in the area doing operations and may even keep you out of the smoke if you are so busy looking at Foreflight that you do not see the smoke. However, the TFR area and elevation should be as small as possible to achieve the goal. The FAA should come up with a new term to virtually eliminate the TFR and call it a TAA temporary alert area. This would alert pilots to added risks in a certain area but would not restrict flight into that area. This would be good for most of the times when they use a TFR. Only for VIPs inner ring would there be a TFR and the outer ring a TAA. All other uses for TFRs would become TAAs. Yes this would add more letters to the alphabet soup but it would make for fewer TFRs and would lessen the impact of accidently forgetting one. I guess the one good thing is most TFRs rarely extend above 2500 to 3000AGL but this should be looked at as well if the operation altitude of working aircraft is say below 1000AGL then the TFR should not be above 1500AGL 500feet separation is sufficient for flying in normal airspace.

There's nothing wrong with bladders. I'm having a new one made for our 1947 Douglas AD-1 Skyraider. This is the original bladder in this airplane and needed to finally be changed due to the self sealing compound entering the bladder itself. Wet wing or bladder, it's your choice. They both will do the job when taken care of properly.

Aww come on. I have bladders that are 22 years old now and no evidence of any work being performed on them. No leaks. Further, I have posted on here asking for documented evidence of any bladder failure on a Mooney and so far, zero have come forward. Bigfoot sightings are more common. You lose 34 pounds of useful load, and nowhere in the history of man has 34 pounds been made such a big deal of. We still have a 974 lb useful load as well.

I had my tanks resealed at Willmar and they did a terrible job. They didn't even finish the job. They only coated the cells that you could see through the gas cap with the liquid butyl rubber and the rest of the tank only had a brush coat of sealant. I have had to repair both sides which have been leak free sense the repairs. I have an A/P license so I do all my own work. The best instructions for repairing tanks are on Don Maxwell’s website. I used his methods and I leak no more. Feel free to contact me for advice on tank repair.

I find this thread a little troubling. I'm an A&P/IA and have no problem going in to my Mooney tanks to do a reseal or a repair nor do I see a problem with an A&P who has been working in the field for a number of years. The Mooney manual details what the procedure is to classify a leak and repair or reseal as necessary. This borders on the "MSC is the best" topic again and insulting to A&P's who are working independently in the field. What constitutes a qualified mechanic in your opinion? There are owners out there who are doing more than they are suppose to, so what you've seen may not be from an unqualified mechanic but an owner instead. Resealing fuel tanks isn't anything out of the ordinary maintenance, but is labor intensive.