Leaderboard

I learned something today working on Matt's cowling. I am able to kee the ram air with some minor tweaking of a flange to make it fit my new lower cowling piece. We'll be able to see if the ram air makes a difference or not with the air filter moved into the high pressure area of the cowling. The real challenge with keeping the ram air is hooking up the under cowl air filter box to the original air filter chamber with the oil cooler in the original location. We'll get it but things are tight. I also installed my new carbon fiber spinner on my airplane and it fits perfectly!

I recently swapped out my Hartzell prop for the MT composite 4 blade and have had a chance to fly it a bit and thought I would post a report on what I have observed. Special thanks to Erik B. and Scott S. who provided me counseling on their experiences. By the way, my Hartzell is listed for sale with a complete overhaul. Buying Process - I ordered mine from Flight Resources. The delivery took 4 weeks, 1/2 down up front and 1/2 when it ships from Germany. You must have the prop shipped to a MT authorized prop shop for final assembly. I had mine shipped to Jordan Propeller in San Antonio. From there, the prop shop can deliver the prop to your A&P for installation and balance. It is recommended that you have the prop balanced. The spinner is a composite material and I had mine painted Matterhorn White to match the plane. Years ago most piston props were delivered with stainless leading edges. The restrictions to paint choices in Germany had many MT props shedding paint. The turbine application is for a nickel leading edge which wraps around longer and covers more of the prop. Also the paint formula has been modified and is much better in regards to wear and tear than the earlier props. Today, most pistons (like mine) have nickel edges and the new paint formula. Sound and Ergonomics - as mentioned elsewhere the prop is very quiet and smooth. It is German so I will say it is similar to driving a German engineered car. There is a certain smoothness and solid feel that I seem to get in the Mooney. Not to take anything away from other manufacturers but the prop does seem to maintain tight tolerances that are felt in the plane. Taxi, cruise and all aspects of flight seem to be much more quiet. Performance- I have one trip of 4 hours each way to pirep the prop. Takeoff performance is better although I do not have the hard data. The transfer of power from your power adjustments is instantaneous it feels. Moving to full throttle has no spool up time, its just gets there. Same for power reductions. No over speed conditions. I am still trying to get before and after take off distances and climb. Today I was climbing at 1100 fpm at 120 knots and 2500 rpm. I saw 700 fpm at 145 kts, 2500 rpm in a cruise climb. In cruise it is hard to tell but I think it may be the same speeds. I have logged many speeds and at some settings I was a knot faster but at others I was equal to the Hartzell. I do not feel I lost any speed with the 4 blades. 9000 ft, LOP -30, 12C, 21.6MP 2450rpm 12.9 gph at 171kts 9000 ft, ROP +100 12C 21.7MP 2450rpm 17.2gph at 177kts 8000 ft LOP -40 11C 22.5MP 2450rpm 13.6gph at 172kts 8000 ft ROP +100 11C 22.6MP 2450rpm 17.8gph at 176kts I am still getting used to landings. I have to carry a bit more power now to maintain 80kts on final. It used to be 12-13" and now it is over 13". The prop does seem to have a kind of braking effect when you twist it to the stops. I slow down very quickly but if you twist it to the stops while flaring it will stop flying so a lot of the float has been eliminated. Weight and Balance - Empty weight dropped around 30lbs and CG moved about 1.25" aft. (I left my POH in the hangar so don't quote me on those numbers) I put together a video to show the sound inside and out and also the look. Be gentle with me, I am not a producer. Russ Russ

I’m partial to an 80% nitrogen mix...

Just to let you know, there's a couple of us Mooney folks here in Santa Rosa. We have all had a horrific week in Sonoma County. The unthinkable happened in the early hours of Monday evening as a firestorm sped from Calistoga over the mountain into the heart of northern Santa Rosa. My wife and I were awakened by a neighbor for an immediate evacuation with a firestorm raging on the hill just above our neighborhood. The smoke, flames, explosions, severe wind and the roar were unbelievable and what I would describe as evil. My wife was injured trying to wake an elderly neighbor and required an ER visit but our hospital seemed to be on fire as did all of Santa Rosa. We left with the clothes on our back and our cat. We were certain we would lose our house. As we became refugees our day was filled with anxiety as we grasped the reality of losing "our stuff." Remembering that I had webcams it was late morning when I saw that, unbelievably, our home had been somehow spared. We actually felt guilty about that as so many of our friends narrowly escaped with just their lives in Fountain Grove, Coffey Park, and Larkfield/Wikiup where we live. One of our Mooney brothers, M20D6607U, lost his home as did many members of his family. So many families had multiple members in these neighborhoods. You would think when something like this happens you could stay with relatives but when every family member loses their home it creates a real dilemma. I am helping to run an evacuation and disaster relief distribution center and I connected with Ron personally today, getting him and his family some relief supplies, loading him up with everything I could from sleeping bags to Gatorade to toothbrushes and socks. He also knows and is helping several other families who lost their homes and we are supplying them as well. I know he's going to be upset with me for telling you all this but I thought it would be great if you left him some words of encouragement. I'm not sure when he'll see this but at some point I'll tell him what I did unless he busts me sooner. He's a great guy with a heart of gold. All of our Mooneys are safe. The airport was about 2 miles from the fire and has been a base for Cal Fire, National Guard, and several GA relief efforts as have the smaller airports near us like Healdsburg, Cloverdale, and Petaluma. There is a sizable TFR overhead of which a small chunk was left open for KSTS in case you're flying in here. When faced with the possibility of losing your home and everything in it, you often wonder what you would take with you. When the evacuation is immediate and dangerous there is no time or decision making. You leave it all. We snuck in past the barricades the second day as the fires were still raging next to us, expecting our home to be destroyed. My wife and I looked around and wondered what we'd pack into our van. All we took were our important papers, old video tape of our daughters, and a couple extra changes of clothing. We left everything else. The night before, when we were convinced we lost everything, we let it all go. It was just stuff at that point. We had each other, our friends, and we were safe. What we used to think was so important now made us feel embarrassed. The new sofa we took so long to find, the perfect giant HDTV, the piano, and on and on and on. It was just stuff. It wasn't important anymore and it seemed a hinderance. On this second trip in all we brought out was a laundry basket with very few things. The van was empty as we headed back to the shelter and we walked away from our home with no regrets. Lean-of-peak vs. rich-of-peak didn't matter anymore (hahaha). Neither did politics, sports, or any other argument or opinion. It all seems so petty now. I drive through the burn area on my way to work every day. There's no way around it. The familiar landmarks that defined my neighborhood are gone, obliterated. I'm hoping that visible scar on our community will be a constant reminder to not get caught up in the "stuff" trap again. Family and friendships are what's important. Giving to others and serving your community, being generous and grateful and all that good stuff, that's what's important. -Scott

So some friends wanted to meet up in St. Pete for some dinner and walk on the beach. Mapquest says 3 hrs 30 mins. Skyvector says 55 minutes. So away we go! VFR on top. 8500ft near Crystal River. 147KTAS. Descending into St. Pete Great little place, got Tampa Class B clearance in and out. Going out was kinda scary, took off at 11pm on runway 7 with winds gusting 19. 30 seconds later, out over the bay, holding at 900 feet waiting on approach to give me clearance higher. Got 20 min north and sky cleared up, winds died down and temps dropped. Was chilly last night when we got back at midnight.

Don't worry about it. If your engine quits just coast on down and ditch in the river. A river rafter will come by and pick you up in the spring....

Call LASAR for their version, or just make your own using the old ones as a pattern. Use Velcro to close them around the gear instead of disassembling. Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

I wouldn't fly IMC without a second comm radio. Nav radio is a different story. Backup the panel mounted GPS with a battery powered backup and you'r'e arguably in better shape than a second panel mounted GPS. If the #1 gps/nav radio dies, you backup with a a handheld GPS. If GPS goes down then you have a nav radio in the panel mounted GPS. If GPS and the VOR system both go down, it's unlikely that a second nav radio would help. There are certainly scenarios we could come up with, but for an owner flown aircraft well known to the pilot, those scenarios are very unlikely.

The MP snubber issues go back as far as 1965. As in the Mooney parts manual shows a snubber in the line with the MP gauge. Find the page that covers all the instruments in the instrument panel and check the part numbers list... MP is a very noisy thing to measure. Air is a very compressible material, naturally. Four intake valves opening and closing add to the fluctuations. A snubber is just a small restriction in the line, to smooth it out, without accidently altering it. Another oddity Of old MP gauges is The calibrated tiny weep hole. This keeps the blue goo from evaporated 100LL from getting all the way to the gauge each time the engine shuts down. I wouldn't expect JPI to be handing them out for free. The oscilation occurs in a frequency that could be digitally smoothed out. Look how fast a JPI can collect data... it is not fast enough to digitally smooth out the MP. It collects data every two seconds, the prop rotates faster than that. I would expect JPI to recommend a proper snubber for purchase, with proper plumbing fittings. Their tech guys should know this. Maybe they aren't motor heads. The computer guys don't know that their computer is too slow to collect proper data for digital smoothing. They must be seeing random highs and lows, not all of the highs and lows. Hard to do an average when the data looks random... You would think an engine instrument company would have a motor head in there somewhere. Find an engineer that likes to tweak the engine in his car. He will know programming, MP and ignition curves... His Audi will have Uber turbos and the power output will have been measured on a dyno, strapped down operating at full speed. Too high a price paid to not get the bits and advice you need. Send JPI to MS. We can coach them regarding what their customers need. Best regards, -a-

Flew from Taos to Las Vegas via the Dragon corridor today. Thanks @gsxrpilot for the suggestion. That route takes you over the Colorado 4 times. Spectacular, BUT I’ve done that now. I’m sure that the engine sounded a little off each time we flew over the edge, similar to when we fly over lake Michigan in the winter. The mind plays tricks....

Thought I would chime in with the owners point-of-view. First, David has been outstanding to work with! I've had a great time thus far. Very detail oriented. I got into this about 1.5 years ago when Dave came out to measure for the injected models. At the end of the day, I think I said something like, "if you need someone to do some testing for the injected models...." and so here we are. The process is taking a little longer than first anticipated, but not unexpected. There is alot to measure, fit and prototype. Even though she has been grounded for the better part of a month (due to both our jobs and unexpected issues), I have enjoyed seeing it come together. Using the time to install a new Skytec starter since the front end was torn apart, I am now at 1007# useful. I also replaced the alternator belt, but I'm not sure I got it on right... Now the nitty/gritty. 1. Presently, my TAS at 6500FT is 147KTAS as recorded in a four heading test, running WOT, RamAir open and 100 ROP. All engine parameters are recorded as well. This pretty closely lines up with the book. The only mods were/are the LASAR closure and brake rotation. 2. I opted to install new engine mounts so that I knew the cowling fit was as close to a stock airplane as possible. 3. I am leaving the oil cooler in the stock location to reduce time and cost a bit. 4. The third cowl flap is going away initially to see what effect (if any) it has on temps. The idea is to experiment and see how to get the best cooling. 5. The ram-air is staying for now. He wanted to see if there is any need for it with the mod. My personal feeling is the ram-air will be useless since Dave's intake is in a high-pressure area. I am not expecting any MP gain with the ram-air open. We shall see. It would be nice to remove if if I can. Dave thinks the third week of October is looking good as a completion date. I hope so! I'm getting excited to take her out on the test flight

Yep, GPSS off the aspen is the berries. You only lack a go around button to disengage the AP, command a pitch up and sequence the missed!

The Aspen... mea culpa here... today's flight was to figure out how to use the instruments and autopilot together. I've never really understood how to push the buttons in the right sequence to get it to capture and fly a fully coupled approach. I've also never had GPSS and didn't really understand that it uses HDG mode instead of NAV mode. Anyway, we worked it all out and once I learned which buttons to push in which sequence, it works amazingly well every time.

You forgot "If elected . . ." on that one! P.S.--who uses Latin anymore besides lawyers? Even Google didn't detect Latin, it thought Portuguese, and had no translation . . . Obviously, I wasn't taught by ruler-wielding nuns . . .

Coffee...and you'll throw in a cookie??!! Such a sweet gesture!! Not so fast! Coffee just doesn’t cut it I’m afraid! The appropriate and customary beverage for these circumstances is indeed... beer!!!

The second Com isn’t thought about much until you need it. I have a GTN 650 as the primary and had a Narco MK20 D+ as the backup. I lost the 650 on an IFR due to interference caused by a newly installed JPI 900. My Narco decided it was time to take a rest. Made for an interesting flight. I elected to pull the Narco and installed a Garmin GNC 255B. Great radio with nice features. If you intend on going IFR, you will want a decent #2 that you can rely on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1. Sign in to your FlightAware account. 2. Rest your cursor over your login name in the upper left corner of the screen. 3. In the pop up area, click on 'Account'. 4. Go down to area number 6 - Position only flights. 5. Select the radio button for 'Show position only flights'. 6. Click on Save.

In Houston We completely lost the month of September. The line in Houston was "Nobody in Houston knows what day it is" Things: I had to make decisions for lots of homeowners since they were still shell shocked. Guns, silver, Silver Set, Jewelry, important papers, Clothes to start afresh. As one homeowner said looking at all his stuff piled in trash bags on the boat. "This is not the optimum way to move a household" Stay strong. Rely on friends and neighbors, It's OK to ask for help. I started the hashtag #wegotthis as a reminder to folks that you will get through this.

Once the OP's issue gets fully addressed, perhaps this thread can live on as the go to place for everyone to therapeutically bitch about JPI customer service. Don't get me wrong - I love my EDM-900 now that all the bugs are shaken out, but the other significant issue I had with it turned into every bit as much of a PITA to get fixed.

Sweet as hell, bad ass too.

I kind of like being tracked. If I fly VFR, ATC would not normally put me into their system and there would be no tracking. With ADS-B, I'm always being tracked. If I were to have an engine failure, being tracked would give people a good idea of where to start looking. Granted, if I have an emergency I'll probably activate the ELT which, if it works, will give a more precise location. And if I land successfully and close enough to a cell tower, I can always call and tell people where I am. Never hurts to have a backup though.

MOONEYCOMPASSCARD.docx Hi guys, I made a Mooney branded compass card that *I think* is the right size for the normal compass card holder (1 x 1.75). It is a word doc and you can click on the images and size up down as/if necessary. Best, Stephen

Jets don't have right of way over you, or anyone else. We're bound by the same FARs and etiquette as you. We have limited visibility, need more real estate and can't go as slow as you. We will do virtually anything to ensure a safe operation. We expect the same from you. Is that fair?

The short answer is because some if them don't want to. "I'm in a ______, move over" doesn't cut it, whether it's a jet blowing the pattern to pieces, or a large truck taking the half of the highway that he wants. Both will get their comeuppance one day. But so far, my limited jets-in-the-pattern experiences have been good, we've worked things out nicely without having or wanting fisticuffs at the FBO. Asshats will be asshats regardless of what they are riding, driving or flying.

Probably, anyone want to post a couple pictures of theirs?

I'm pretty close though. While watching the KFC150 keeping the needles centered on the approach, I loaded and armed the altitude target and rate of climb for the missed. I also selected Direct to: and the first waypoint on the Missed. Upon reaching Minimums I just push one button on the Altitude pre/select and one button on the IFD540 and shove the throttle forward. Once positive rate of climb is verified, clean up the gear, flaps, and sit back and watch it sequence the missed and fly the hold. I never touched the yoke or the pedals. Two button pushes and the throttle isn't too bad for my 1987 piston single to sequence and fly a missed.

Courtesy goes both ways for it to work (and in a previous life I was a blow torch driver).

Tim Sullivan

I've been striving to reduce temps for 5 years. At this point I'm waiting to see what David's cowl does before further tweaking. Coming home from MA Tuesday (623 nm, 4.7 hours, 40.1 gallons), the port side CHTs (#2, #4) both averaged 309 in cruise; on the starboard side CHTs were 336 & 350. Very acceptable. Oil Temp, with the cooler mounted behind cyl #4 and with a full ARI cowl closure, averaged 197. Since it was a cool day and I was running at 60% LOP that's where I hope to see some help. (I think I've done everything except replace the cooler.)

my current employment is in visualizing sensing data. Data quality is a large issue with our customers. It usually goes to sensors being out of wack or installed wrong. There is not bad software, there is bad software installs.

My Rocket lost 4 quarts of oil during a 3 hour flight. I found out when it took 4 quarts to get it back to 8. Until then I was using about 1 quart every 4 hours and I didn't think much of it. During the flight manifold pressure starting to fluctuate about 4 inches, with oil pressure close to yellow range. I since figured out the MP fluctuation was due to insufficient oil pressure actuating the turbo waste gate. Landed at nearest field and local maintenance facility did leak down, one of the cylinders was around 40 lbs. No oil in exhaust or any other visible leak but lots of oil under belly. The oil was coming out of the crankcase breather tube due to blow by. They pulled the cylinder and put in new ring set and that fixed it. I also noticed the oil was still clear after a 4 hour return flight. So if you're losing an excessive amount of oil this could be due to blow by like it was for me.

I hear you, I put the AOS in thinking it would be the solution but post-top end, it became the problem!

I DO WHAT I WANT!

I would look at trading your current plane for one configured the way you want it. From reading about your plan you could be into a 20k investment. Add 20k to your planes market value and see what that could buy.

I was getting the dreaded blue stain at the pump case drain and was all set to send the pump in for overhaul. However, upon closer inspection I found that it was actually an' O-ring in one of the L-fittings that had gone bad. The case drain is the low point and fuel anywhere above will migrate to that nipple and make it look like the pump has gone bad. An O-ring is significantly cheaper than an overhaul.

Since I am sometimes "that jet traffic", I'll give you my perspective on the VFR traffic pattern. About 30% of our destinations are uncontrolled airports. Of those, we are the only aircraft in the pattern probably half the time....that's good. However anytime we approach an uncontrolled airport both pilots are on "high alert". The recommendations for jets is to fly essentially the same pattern but 500' above the slower traffic. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out this is setting up for some bad situations with high speed traffic descending through lower speed traffic. We can't fly a Mooney pattern. We need more real estate to maintain reasonable bank angles in our turns, so we're way outside of everyone else. Most jets have pretty poor visibility in some quadrants. We have our heads on a swivel, but we just can't see through aluminum. We use our TCAS and our radio, but we are completely aware that a NORDO J-3 flying 60 MPH is always a possiblilty....even at night! In my opinion, the absolutel safest way to land a jet at an uncontrolled field is from a straight in. We are in the pattern the least amount of time, we do not descend on base through the 1000' pattern altitude, and we aren't trying to look in all the quadrants we can't see. The jet pilots may, or may not think they are big-shots, but in most cases they are just being extremely cautious. Our lives and our livlihoods depend on a 100% safe operation. Uncontrolled airports are a threat; I have never seen a jet pilot intentionally cut anyone out of the pattern, but have seen it done because the traffic was mis-identified, or unseen. For those of you who have allowed jets to go ahead out of sequence, my sincere thanks and appreciation. I'll buy you a cup of coffee at the FBO. If it's a Signature, I'll add in a cookie.

Where's Peter? You taking note?

The original designed ram air on my F (which is only a few serial numbers from Matt’s) will produce and extra 1.25” of MP. If the new air box located in the high pressure area drops that delta significantly, it may well be worth closing it off and getting rid of that expensive boot. If it still provides a significant MP boost, it sounds like it would be best to relocate the oil cooler to make more room upfront. Really anxious to see Matt’s performance numbers. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I fly light to heavy IFR - I've been instrument rated for over 15 years. I would never fly with out a second nav/comm. My work plane has dual 430W, my personal plane has a GTN 650/SL 30. I use the second comm on every flight and back up the GPS with ground based navaids enroute and on approaches.

Great video Pirep, Russ! Super smooooth landing using the HUD AOAi. Wondering How The Low inertia prop may account for the higher power setting during the landing...? If at all... The MT wasn't available when I bought my Hartzell many years ago...missed by a few months.., Best regards, -a-

Hi Matt, I cut out the ram air intake and the oil cooler on this one, so they can be left out if the customer chooses. Thanks. David

Well making progress!

just above the map area there should be text that says something like show flights not on a flight plan.

To Erik's point: I remember reading when I did my homework that the best performance increases show up the higher you get. It'll be interesting to see what you find at 11-15k ft.

One of my options (that I seriously considered) was to do a type rating in a jet as my ATP check ride. I think it would have been $7,500 in one of the jets and $10,000 in the other but I don't recall which ones they were any longer.. That wouldn't be a bad option.

Thanks Alex!

Ron actually works for Sonoma Jet Center. The Red Cross is not out hat STS as they are in the city. However, if you drop anything off at KSTS use Sonoma Jet Center and they as they have strong contacts with us and we be very good stewards of what you bring in. The big thing is gift cards, especially Target. Kmart burned down as did Kohl's so no gift cards from there, please. We don't need bottled water. I have 45,000 bottles and another truck is on the way. Most of the shelters and distribution centers are receiving goods from Convoy of Hope and other organizations. -Scott

I went through the same thing with my EDM900 MAP fluctuating when installed a couple years ago. Definitely ask JPI about it, but don't expect them to be knowledgeable or helpful. My process toward getting this issue fixed is outlined below. Step 1. Based on Bob's experience, I call JPI and ask them if I need a snubber because it worked for Bob. They said no - I needed to have the unit removed and sent to them for a software update. I say nope - I ain't gonna do that. Step 2. I whine to my installer to see if they can get JPI to act reasonable. JPI then agrees to send a "software fix" to him to install. I take off work to fly back to his shop. This "software fix" does nothing to help. Step 3. I talk to the JPI CEO in their booth at Oshkosh. He says there's no software fix and that I need a snubber and to please call their tech support folks so they can send me one. Step 4. I call JPI tech support and try to explain that their CEO wants them to send me a snubber. Step 5. I take the received snubber back to installer, only to find that it doesn't fit on the JPI MAP transducer. Step 6. I call JPI asking for a snubber that fits. They said no such snubber exists and that I need to find an adapter. Step 7. I look through snubber manufacturer's catalog to find that JPI is correct on there not being one that's threaded to directly fit their MAP transducer. Step 8: I call JPI to explain that it's their flawed MAP transducer that it doesn't fit, so can they please just send me the correct adapter for the snubber or at least give me a part number. They said nope - I'm on my own. Step 9: I beg the installer to find the correct adapters for both ends of the snubber so it fits in the MAP line. Bingo! Problem solved. Hopefully my experience can help you cut out at least a couple of steps. But when you call JPI, please do not mention my name - I am not popular there, and they will likely hang up on you

Flew my little cancer buddy down to Grand Rapids MI from up in the U.P. for more chemo treatments. The Airlifeline Bonanza was down for Avionics maintenance and my Lancair is down for a final bodywork push before going to my painter. Caleb was disappointed we weren't taking the prop-jet but was still happy they didn't have to drive. Tom

Vance, after being in this game for a few years, I'm convinced that the FAA doesn't want to promulgate any (many?) hard rules that have to be enforced in the uncontrolled airport world. They cover the subject with recommendations and non-binding publications, but it's very tough to hang your hat on hard and fast rules. In aviation, courtesy and good sense go a long way toward staying out of trouble....and staying alive.