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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/21/2017 in all areas

  1. Finally after days of heavy rain, low clouds and thunderstorms, I was able to get 252AD back in the air again. Unfortunately it was a short 82 mile flight to drop it off for a tank reseal. So that's no more flying for another three weeks. But I did get fly a bit more with the new IFD 540 and the PMA 450a that I recently installed. This won't be a full PIREP but I gotta say, both are better than advertised. There was a short comparison for me between the IFD 540 in my plane and then a GTN 650 in the chase plane on the ride home. I know they don't exactly compare, but I found the IFD much easier to use. There are more buttons to supplement the touch screen. Which to me makes it easier to navigate. Of course I'm mostly comparing the IFD to unit it replaced which was the GNS 530W. Again, not a fair comparison, but if I knew how much better it would be, I'd upgraded much sooner. The Comms features are amazing. The correct freq is always just a button push away. There's no more need to look up freq's in ForeFlight either before departure or enroute. Just push the Freq button and all the relevant frequencies for your local area are listed in order of probably usage. When I fire up on the ground, it's already listing in order, ATIS, Clearance, Ground, and Tower for the local field. The IFD also lists the Name of the facility under the Frequency. So as I selected the Twr Freq for KHYI, 126.82, under the number is displayed San Marcos Twr. Easy to make sure you're on the correct freq. My destination, KELA uses 122.9 which is used by every little airport in the area. I tuned it in early in the flight and noticed that as I crossed the area, the name of the facility under the number was constantly updated depending on my position. So while flying over 84R, 122.9 was listed as Smithville CTAF, but as I got closer to KELA it changed to show Eagle Lake CTAF. There is also the ability to have any number of Standby frequencies. It's often useful to have two or three freq's displayed. I've been having lots of electronic gremlins making noise in my panel. I not sure if it's some sort of feed back or alternator noise or what it is. When it goes in for the avionics work upcoming, I hope to get it sorted out. But I gotta say the PMA 450a is doing an amazing job of filtering out the noise. I didn't know this was a feature of the product, but I knew about the auto squelch features. But I had no idea it would be so good at filtering out all the various noises and delivering a clear comms stream to the headsets. The cockpit has never been so quiet. Lastly, one benefit of both of these boxes is the installation cost, which was $0. The IFD slides right into the GNS 530W slot without any modification, and the PMA 450a slides into the GMA 340 tray. Both worked perfectly immediately including driving the autopilot, etc. More later when I get to actually fly it more. But now a 3 week wait while the tank is done.
    4 points
  2. I am certainly not trying to start yet another discussion on bladders vs reseal, but you should be aware that you do have the option of resealing. Read all the prior posts and decide which way you want to go, as It looks like you need to move the plane anyway.
    4 points
  3. Welcome aboard, There is a lot missing in your statements. You have just joined MS after buying a Mooney? Expect to get some help, but it might not sound very friendly at first. We are avid Mooney pilots first, and not always the best writers... Sounds like a good time to start with a review of everything. Make a list of what is working. And what is not... 1) Starting with how are you measuring the speed, and what are your expectations? Most Mooney pilots discuss speed in terms of KTAS at a given altitude and power setting. Then they use a three way course and a GPS driven ground speed to determine how well the ASI is actually working. 2) Next steps are with the instruments. When they are forty years old, they may no longer be in calibration. MP, RPM, and FF... These are the devices that will let you know if the engine is OK to fly behind. 300 rpm slow is greater than 10% of available HP and equates to a very long T/O run and slow rate of climb. Around once each year a new Mooney owner comes aboard after buying a plane without much of a PPI. They took on the risk that everything might work out well. Sometimes they find some metal in their oil filter during the oil change. Power is directly related to cam performance. If the cam is failing, the power will be off... The rpm being this far off is not a normal thing. Use an iPhone app to obtain what the rpm really is for comparison. Is the low rpm something new after purchase? (A low time pilot with a check list would have found this on a test ride) the prop's governor can make the engine look bad. Setting the governor properly is a simple mechanic's job. Rpm indicators can be off by 50 rpm, not 300. 3) Feelings about how well a plane is rigged will be very misleading. Proper rigging requires tools and procedures. A mechanic can balance a plane to fly straight. It will feel right it will also be slower than a properly rigged aircraft. 4) Did you really buy a plane without a pre purchase inspection, PPI? 5) expect taking a Mooney to a qualified shop to check on things can be very expensive. Do as much as you can yourself before dropping a plane off and asking them to look at everything... I hope this is helpful. I'm only a Private Pilot with crummy writing skills... Best regards, -a-
    3 points
  4. Just think of the educational experience. You wont over tighten it again...... We've all been there done that Oscar. That's happened to me once or twice.
    3 points
  5. It's been an interesting day in the northeast. My favorite part was the disappearing TFR over Biden's house. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    3 points
  6. I have smelled the burnt toast when I have the heat on (usually worse on the first usage of heat for the season). I always attributed it to dust bunnies building up in the heat exchanger or in the tubing to the cockpit.It was either that or one of my passengers actually has a piece of burnt toast stuck in a fat fold. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    3 points
  7. OK, so the real budget is about 46AMU for the plane, 4 in taxes, ppi, etc. and 10 in reserve. You can buy a reasonable C, E, or F model with what you have. Being on the east coast the IO is not critical to your mission. Right now without teenagers complaining "are we there yet" you don't need the extra 5 inches of space. A well equipped C or E would likely be your best bet, if you find an F in the same price and equipment range grab it. Speed wise they will all be 140 knot +/- 5 @ 9gph unless you find one with speed mods that will get you close to 150 knots. Find a good plane that has your list of wants and you won't be unhappy.
    3 points
  8. Well I feel like a real idiot! My overhauled fuel selector valve needed to be adjusted...(the fuel drainer was leaking a little bit). So I asked my AP to look into it. Yesterday I decided that it was a great idea to help... My office was closed because of the inauguration. I cleaned it and I told the AP that I would reinstall the valve. I over tighten the screw on the little cup below the assembly and I broke the valve! Now I need a replacement. Not easy to get the original one! Is their a replacement...??? Luckily I was able to find a used one on eBay...us$ 423... hope it is serviceable. Anyway, long story short... I tried to help being CB... and now I don't even know what it may cost me... Oscar
    2 points
  9. My tanks are getting resealed right now. I decided it was a much better option then bladders. I'd pay the guy and pull the plane out of his shop ASAP. There are always options and anyone who tells you there isn't, doesn't know and shouldn't be relied on for ANY advice.
    2 points
  10. I got this email when I contacted Griggs: Hello Gus and thank you for contacting us. Yes we bought the STC's for all the fuel system that O&N previously owned. we are continuing to sell parts/ pieces/ support and new kits as well. All of the people that work here used to work for O&N and actually our fuel tank guys are the ones that helped O&N design and build them for all these years. At the moment we are in the process of getting our PMA setup here at our facility just waiting on the blessing from the FAA to be able to complete new kits. In the mean time we have parts we can ship out for people in need. So please let everyone know that nothing has really changed other than the name and location. Show quoted text -- Matt Griggs Griggs Aircraft Refinishing LLC 17 Runway RD Tunkhannock, PA. 18657
    2 points
  11. I find that if fast, I level off 20' or so off the ground until slow enough, then descend to ground effect for flare. This allows you to slow down much quicker than if you go into ground effect at the same speed. It also reduces the chance for a bounce
    2 points
  12. Paul, if you are going to have some avionics work done, have them add the extra wire for the special alerts and tones from the 540 to the 450. You'll be glad you did. The best one I like is the tones that are played for the Top of descent. And the 500 foot callout is cool too.
    2 points
  13. Did I tell you about the one where I was trying to access the accessory belt in my Cayman S and I stripped the torn nut on a trim piece? So I had to buy tools to get the stripped round head nut out after going all over town to find a "better sized" torx driver... (That was just the one last week) Oh yes Oscar I have been "there"....
    2 points
  14. Pic was from a previous owner.
    2 points
  15. Hi Bob, Now after seeing your pictures I could add a similar strip on my cowling along the rear baffle seal like yours. It wouldn't take much to do this. Think I'll try it in one piece and see how it turns out on mine. Thanks, David
    2 points
  16. Exactly, pop up work fine when the controllers aren't saturated when they often are when the weather goes south; especially in a busy TRACON area like where I live in SOCAL. In which case the controller is most likely going to ship you to FSS or maybe take 10+ minutes to get you into the system. However, pop-ups are much easier for the controller in the situation Bradp gave. If you are VFR and going to a TRACON's airspace where you need IFR for an approach and that you will also be terminating services in the same facility, (i.e. landing), the controller doesn't need to enter a full flight plan for a intra-facility strip. Peevee could explain this better than I, but the controller only needs abbreviated information like you N# and type to enter you into the facilities system when they won't have to hand you off to a center facility like they would if you were transiting their airspace. For the later they need more info for a inter-facility strip which may take a busy controller awhile or be reason to ship you over to FSS to get you into the system. Where pilots cut it short is they think they can hold out till they are talking to their final TRACON, where they can be pretty confident of getting a pop-up as then enter their airspace. But instead find they need IFR before they get to the TRACON's airspace or well before their destination and then need to get a center or another tracon to get them into the system; but find the controller is already busy. That's were the pre-file'd IFR flight plan can be so critical. It need not be a composite flight plan - in fact those are more complicated than they are worth IMO. Just a filed IFR flight plan that starts anywhere near where you intend to pick it up at the approximate time you expect to be there works quite well. Just tell the controller well in advance you are requesting IFR around xyz and have a prefiled flight plan from abc to zzz,
    2 points
  17. after much waiting around and stressing I fired up 36M yesterday for the first time in almost a month. Overhauled mags and no crack in the exhaust and it sounds really good and smooth. No oil leaks other than the drips from me way overcharging the K&N airfilter... Actually seems quieter as well. Not convinced the tiny crack in exhaust was making it loud but I could have an almost normal conversation with the IA with the door shut and engine at fast idle. Mag checks went fine. Eddy current of course found no cracks in my hub. I fixed the smoking rheostat which was caused by a short in the IP lights. Got my flaps to come up in about 10 seconds vs less than 2. With all the oil and grease I put in it the controls it feels like butter on the ground. Put the rebuilt pilot valve for the PC system in. 500 hour inspection on yoke shafts and while they were out painted them really well with 10 layers of clearcoat after the base, so hopefully i never get paint rubbing off on my hands. and the cracked plastic is finally gone. Raining like hell here so I'm not doing anything today but I just need to button up the cowl and swing the new compass and shes ready to fly.
    2 points
  18. x2 on the rigging. +9 KTAS After rigging properly. The Mooney is super sensitive to rigging. The slightest misrig will be big numbers in terms of TAS. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
    1 point
  19. My intercooler lets me drop .5 for every ten degrees of cooling so if my mp is supposed to be 28 and my intercooler is cooling 60 degrees then I can drop 3 down to 25 . I have been told by other pilots , non mooney pilots that a drop of three is a little much . My intercooler usually is cooling right around 60 degrees . Now with all that being said if I am cooling 60 degreesish I usually drop right around 2 . I don't have a merlyn so on that end I am ignorant.
    1 point
  20. Since the intercooler is responsible for changing the density of the compressed air making the MP more effective than before, it would be best to have the proper data for setting the power. The proper data is usually supplied by STC. Is there a reason you don't have updated ops data to go with the intercooler and MP Controller? Stand by for some better help from a more TC knowledgable Mooney pilot... Best regards, -a-
    1 point
  21. Nice Pirep in the making, Rocket! Best regards, -a-
    1 point
  22. IF you have an engine problem, then any engine guy will do... and any owner forum will do as well. But if it's not exclusively an engine issue, (and it could be any one of a million other things,) you're gonna need a Mooney specialist. Don Maxwell got my first C to do an additional 10 knots TAS after he straightened it out. Someone who was an expert at rigging Cessna's had rigged it all wrong.
    1 point
  23. Personally I am real glad I have bladders but with your situation I guess it's just a question of getting to someone willing to do a proper strip and re seal. As for installing bladders assuming you can get them make sure the master mech knows proper installation process and hopefully has had some previous experience in the task.
    1 point
  24. Bad weather and a real bad cold have kept me grounded for over two weeks and now I've come down with a case of tendinitis bad news is it's left shoulder and I'm left handed good news is Johnson bar is on the right. Man I can't wait to fly again.
    1 point
  25. I was hoping he would attempt a run using that tequila from the bottle he holding at the end
    1 point
  26. Greg, Just give me a call or shoot me a message. Not a bad hop from Danbury (KDXR) to Northampton. I do hope they fixed the runway lighting though and besides, methinks I still owe you lunch! Robert PS just looked for the group on FB and it claims not to find it...hmmmm
    1 point
  27. Do you have an engine analyzer? You don't mention MAP. Are you getting within an inch of atmospheric pressure at take off? Do you have a FF indicator? You should see 18 GPH on take off. You're 1/2 hour from KMRN - Foothills Regional Airport - where I am and more importantly where AGL Aviation Services, the only Mooney Service Center in the Carolina is. Bring it here and Lynn will figure out what's going on.
    1 point
  28. The first day in a looooong time where I was home and the ceilings weren't jump-up-and-touchable. Nothing like a 45 minute flight around the neighborhood as a place of refuge from news and drama. Topped by a fun ride down the ILS wire to 21L. Win! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    1 point
  29. You are just getting older. Take Omega III. José
    1 point
  30. Don't beat yourself up. You just did a normal thing. It's in our DNA to turn the screw, nut or bolt one more time, just to be sure. And, although we have torque wrenches for nuts and bolts, not yet a torque indicator for the common screwdriver. Too bad we lost Steve Jobs. Best,
    1 point
  31. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    1 point
  32. Good morning, Bob! 3am on the east coast. It will be a couple of hours before even Mr Hyett shows up... Best regards, -a-
    1 point
  33. I'd call Insight Avionics technical support and ask for Jim Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  34. Hank, I have never actually seen it, but when you move the throttle in the quadrant, you can hear it clicking.....it must be somewhere close. Mine is also sometimes less than precise. When you find it, post pictures! I thought you ran at full throttle all the time. I'm surprised you ever hear the horn.
    1 point
  35. Just finished completing my repair and installing the relay. Not pretty, but she works great. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    1 point
  36. Back online. Will report if I find anything else glitchy. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    1 point
  37. I file IFR for most cross country flights (and I don't mean the faa 50nm definition) but make the choice to fly VFR if the weather allows. So many times I have flown NJ to FL by going direct CRG VFR and then using my IFR to get through the weather and airspace in Florida. Usually the filed IFR is only good for 2 hours from departure time so it only has you covered if you run into weather in the earlier part of the flight. Sometimes, I'm clever enough to file IFR only for the destination portion where I expect to need it for the time I'm there. For example if I'm departing NJ at 8AM, etc in FL is 2PM, I'll file IFR from CRG to destination for Noon. Otherwise, if conditions are easy VFR anyway, I can usually find the time to file a flight plan enroute with flight service at my leisure. It is so quick filing on the ground with fltplan.com or wingx and so long doing it over the radio that it's usually a good idea to file one just in case.
    1 point
  38. I have absolutely no idea is this was related to vfr into imc as has been suggested. But I thought as long as we were taking guesses I'd add this one...
    1 point
  39. I've owned 3 different Mooney models. Compared to Mooneyspace claims each of mine was the slowest example of its kind.
    1 point
  40. You are so right about flying IFR in various kinds of airspace. I fly near, around and through the DC SFRA a lot, and I wouldn't dream of doing it VFR.
    1 point
  41. I loaded updates two nights ago on both I-Pads. Would NOT function on flight yesterday. When you would go to the map it crashed and closed. NOT Happy. Costs too much to have this crap happen. Thankfully had back-up on 696 running fine for Nav.
    1 point
  42. What on earth is complicated about the Mooney hydraulic flap system? The biggest problem with the hydraulic flap system is that it requires so little maintenance, that few folks have experience servicing them. Mooney specific shops get to service them occasionally. If you've heard they are complicated you've been misinformed.
    1 point
  43. Richard, I've bounced my plane twice since I've owned it and both times i was coming in a little fast and light on fuel and payload; both were also early in ownership of my Mooney. I think it's something every Mooney pilot should experience so you know what to expect and how to handle it. Nice work handling yours. As you know a bounce occurs when there is too much airspeed so I now fly precisely 70 knots over the numbers when heavy, -5 knots when 300 lbs or more under gross and +5 in gusty wind conditions. I learned this from Don Kaye after I purchased his landing DVD and materials that came with it. I've never bounced a landing since. My CFI still thinks 70 is too slow but I think that's a common mistake some CFIs that are unfamiliar with Mooneys make. Kevin
    1 point
  44. It's where I did all of my PPL training so I'm used to it there.
    1 point
  45. The next time I go up I'm going to hop over to Chino with it's 4,858' and 7,000' runways where I have plenty of room to try holding it off longer. I know that Corona is plenty long with its 3,200' runway and I generally just tap the brakes when exiting at the end where my hangar is, but there is something subconscious about watching those trees at the far end come closer while still floating along... Just need more practice.
    1 point
  46. The Whelen was a direct replacement for mine, even used the same trim ring. It is much smaller.
    1 point
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