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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/13/2017 in all areas

  1. This is funny and true. I just shared the observation about me seeing a lot of Mooney tails at a particular shop ( I thought that it was great to see so many Mooney's in the area). Then I thought I would share what I thought was good pricing and service. Next thing you know the thread takes a turn to, "well they must be skipping items" etc.. Is it really impossible they might be a good shop (they have been around long time) and impossible the experience was a good one, great customer service and good pricing. Sometimes I wonder if the keyboard sometimes takes some fun out of our camaraderie....If I was sharing a lunch and telling the same story about my annual and what it cost, would the person sitting across from me really say, "Wow..$1240, they can't be doing a good job, must have skipped some items, there is no way they are doing a thorough job at that price"..If so I would probably move to another table. I guess the bottle of beer is either half full or half empty depending on how you look at things. -Tom
    10 points
  2. Ain't Mooneyspace great? We get all over annuals that are too expensive, and then we beat up on shops that are too cheap. If I were a mechanic, I'd work on washing machines and just have to deal with grateful housewives.
    6 points
  3. as the title says: my first time flying at night:
    4 points
  4. Once in a champ - there were fierce winds even at about 1-2k. SO we decided to fly the 2 miles from the airport to my house...the kids were little and I phoned my wife and told her we were coming and would be there "soon"...there was plenty of time to call during the 2 mile flight. Then at about 1000ft we slowed down a bit and literally hovered over the house for a couple of minutes, flying into the headwind.
    4 points
  5. I have a 96 Ovation. Maintenance has been almost exclusively normal wear and tear items. Most years I spend under 4K on maintenance including annual inspection. It’s a near perfect high performance single unless you want a turbo. So fuel efficient, engine runs cool even without cowl flaps. I don’t believe there are any recurring ad’s at all. If I could change anything would be 100lbs more useful load and a bit stronger landing gear. Other than that, it’s perfect. I’ll do the 310hp stc when the engine needs overhaul. Looks like I’ll comfortably exceed TBO by a fair amount. May you never see it for sale, I hope to own it many years until I can’t fly it any more. And by then maybe the kids will want it. I do hope scarcity will only help it’s value, the early ones always seem a good value to me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    3 points
  6. We have menu pricing at my dealership for oil changes and grease jobs (including a 31 point inspection.....31 points, not 40 or 50) and it is very common in the trucking industry to see. Those that do NOT have menu pricing, in other words bill time and material, usually are not doing a lot of oil changes or don't WANT to do a lot of oil changes. The menu pricing ends up at about half my normal labor rate, BUT this work very commonly leads to other repairs that we find (and the customer appreciates getting fixed at home instead of on the road) that we complete at normal rates. Additionally, I have a few techs that are really good at this repair segment and we have customers that expressly ask for those techs. I had not really looked at our discounting (or menu pricing) as we're doing a lower quality job................ guess it's all a matter of perspective. I guess that means the blown tire my local operator had replaced at a major hub on his Conquest during a charter flight was really high quality work since it ran $5,000 (not counting sending a second plane out to complete the trip because it took two days to complete as well). Tom
    3 points
  7. I know there are quite a few veterans here on mooneyspace. I just want to say Happy Veterans Day and thank you for defending our freedoms.
    2 points
  8. Attempting to economically justify any airplane purchase for personal travel is doomed to failure. I think trying to compare costs between different airframes is also a pointless exercise. You don't buy an airplane because its costs are lower. You buy it because it speaks to you in some way that others don't, and those are not all tangible things. Some folks like the simplicity of fixed gear, and some like the low drag and looks of retractable. Some folks like the security of a parachute, and some think it's the Pussification of the American Aviationscape! Nobody wins these arguments. But to get back to the original poster's thought, the fact is that there are very few Ovations on the market these days, which was not the case three years ago when I bought mine. And simple law of supply and demand would suggest that with less inventory, prices could go higher. It all depends on how much people want to jump into the Mooney way of life. But again, no one should be buying an airplane hoping it will appreciate in value...rather, you buy it to appreciate ITS value to you!
    2 points
  9. We also would likely have Jewell do our O/H when the time comes. But there are some MSers who would argue that since their O/H rates are so reasonable they must be cutting corners and don't deliver a quality product.
    2 points
  10. Excellent points. Lynn Mace figures flat rate annuals are something of a loss leader. He does not cut corners and planes he's seeing for the first time take longer. OTOH, satisfied new customers become regulars and bring the plane for installations and repairs. And they tell their friends.
    2 points
  11. Paul's picture of his panel shows he's eastbound at FL250 with 25,000 dialed in the altitude box. The only way he's going down is coming out of FL270, which looking at his Flight Aware records I've not found one flight he's done that high. Few autopilots will hold within 100' at FL250 as the air is pretty thin. I guess I would do a bit more detective work before implying a regular poster here is distorting his documented aircraft performance. The one thing I've found about airplanes (and muscle cars, snowmobiles, boats and motorcycles) is there is always someone faster than you, no matter how fast YOU (or I) am. That said, the 252 model designation came from Roy Lopresto getting 252 MPH out of the air frame after his mods (219 knots), being the same concept in the models "201" and "231", obviously at WOT. Seeing 200 knots TAS in a 252 should not be a big deal. The "BOOK" numbers on my Rocket show I should see well over 220 knots TAS, which I've never seen. Paul clearly posted a "real life" flight running at his normal cruise settings. Not sure where the heart burn is coming from? Tom
    2 points
  12. Do you understand how it's insulting to be accused of lying about data we post here? You don't have to believe anything, but to post here accusing me of falsifying TAS by posting a picture while in a descent is very insulting.
    2 points
  13. Bob, do you not have this page in your Owners Manual? This is from my 1970 C model Owners Manual. It conveniently put the IAS to CAS conversion on the same page as the stall speed chart. Again, your E will be slightly different. Pay attention to the NOTE under the Airspeed Correction chart.
    2 points
  14. 2 points
  15. To answer the original question- I would pay extra for a 231 with a freshly overhauled MT prop than the standard prop.
    2 points
  16. In my experience, an iPad mini fits great on the yoke of a Mooney. I've used mine that way in my C and then again in my K. Much better than in the panel in my opinion... and much cheaper as well.
    2 points
  17. On my old M20C I slide in a short piece of rubber hose sliced on one side to the bracket that seats on the adjustment knob. José
    2 points
  18. We have all seen amazing advances in tech but IMHO it seems the smarter tech gets the dumber people get. Don't know what it will require to get the airspace needed for a über air taxi service to be possible I think the first hurdle is already being addressed for the use of drones to deliver goods to people. And I've no doubt that if successful the GA community will be the first to go. As for self driving cars and the possibility that we will not be allowed to hand drive our cars well quite frankly that is a time I don't care to live in. And what would be the point of a high performance car. Companies like Porsche Ferrari will become irrelevant what would be the point of a Corvette or any other high performance car. And will I have to park my 1000cc sport bike. Emotion is falling prey to logic passion for things that stir emotion and the soul are becoming more distant. All one has to do is look to the arts to see this. Music and art and the like are suffering. We live in a world where safety is the most important thing and are willing to give up all manor of freedoms to save ourselves and our planet. Trust your government to take care of you. I'm glad I grew up in a time that the word virtual was not tied to reality. Self driving cars are just around the corner and as far as this old school dude is concerned ride in one if you choose too, drive an all electric car if that's what you want just don't tell me how to live my life for the communist good. To coin a phrase you you can have my steering wheel when you pry it from my cold dead hands. Take care
    2 points
  19. I keep an ace in the hole: being a Southern fellow, I can always tell fast-talking ATC "Ya hear how slow I talk? That's also how fast I listen. Say again that new route???"
    2 points
  20. GTN Software Version 6.41 was finally released today. Almost every airport now has Visual Approaches to all runways, both front and back. These can be flown just like VTF instrument approaches with vertical guidance. They have a generated Glidepath that can be flown with an autopilot just like an ILS. I've flown a number of them and really like how they work. No longer is it necessary to put the GPS in OBS mode and turn the Course Selector to the runway heading for situational awareness. Just load a visual approach and all the work is now done for you.
    1 point
  21. So, I am now understanding why I have had high cylinder temps with my engine. The baffle seal is completely shot and I am beginning to wonder if the lower portion has ever been changed (see photo). The top seal is a patchwork of various black and orange pieces so while we are working a cylinder issue I've decided to replace the seals. Does the front lower cowl need to come off completely to get at the row of rivets, or is there some trick (like a partial removal)? Thanks!
    1 point
  22. Lets think about what keeps the fuel pressure in the system. The fuel has to get stuck between immovable objects. One immovable object is the float valve in the carb. If it was leaking there would be extra fuel somewhere. Brice says there is no extra fuel so it isn't that. Then the fuel must be back flowing through the fuel pump. Normally the fuel flows from the tank to the fuel selector (may have integral gascolator) to the electric fuel pump to the mechanical fuel pump and on to the carb. I looked at all the manuals I had and that is how they are all plumbed. Brice says his is different and the way he described the two fuel pumps are in parallel. If this is the case then one of the fuel pumps must have a bad one way valve to allow the fuel pressure to backfeed to the tank. Otherwise there would be fuel leaking from somewhere.
    1 point
  23. This thread makes me want to go lookup a similar thread I started before beginning my Mooney transition training last February. Almost all my flying previous to buying the Mooney was tailwheel. I even started threads on here and another pilot forum asking if I was biting off more than I could chew with such a wild idea as the unobtainable goal of learning to fly a Mooney. In the course of my lack of self confidence, I saw that there was going to be cross wind on the day my C was to be delivered and thought I was doomed. At the time there were two schools of thought regarding crosswind and everything else about the impossible task of a non Mooney pilot being so brazen as to believe that he could ever transition without an instructor with a thousand hours or more and at least 100 students successfully transitioned to the impossible to fly and mysterious Mooney. The other school of thought was those who shrugged their shoulders and said something like “what’s the big deal it’s just another airplane?” I read all the posts about the early C’s not having enough rudder authority and all the other warnings implying that I would die in a crosswind. All the time while selecting flowers I did not consider my own landing technique in my little Cessna 140 in which I had logged about a thousand landings to include gusty and variable crosswinds. My crosswind technique from the very beginning was “ just enough rudder to keep it parallel to the runway and just enough aileron to keep it on the centerline and not drifting one way or the other.” As luck would have it, the day my instructor delivered the plane to my home field and began my transition training the wind was forecast to change to a gusty crosswind. In addition, it was a day of pretty choppy winds. After all the you will die advice from the naysayers that doomed the lowly Cessna 140 pilot to sure death I notified the funeral home of the assured business and got in the plane anyway. We started doing landings and I worked to learn the landing gear and getting the feel of the airplane in the flair. After most of the day of landings less than perfect, but acceptable, we knocked off for the day, had dinner and I put him in a hotel for the night. Once I got to the house that night, it occurred to me that I had been crosswind landing in a 13 knot or more gusty crosswind all day and was still alive and really the crosswind was a non event not noticed due to focusing on everything else. Although I was not greasing it in as I would have liked, this thing was much easier to deal with in a crosswind than the little putt-putt I had been flying all this time. NOW!.... I said all that to make this point: I realize that there is a school of thought and even verbiage in Airman’s manuals that pretty much dictate crab into the wind and straighten up at the last minute, BUT using the crosswind technique I was taught by the old school tailwheel instructor allows you to handle all the crosswind that a normal human being would want to fly in. I join those who recommend transition training be done by a Mooney savvy instructor, but if you are experienced at crosswind landing with the technique I described, crosswinds will be nothing new at all and if you can do them in a taildragger, or the same technique in any airplane, you won’t even know there is a crosswind.. You will just put her down. Landing a Mooney in a crosswind is like anything else with a Mooney. Just learn the right techniques and go enjoy yourself. As I recall Mooney indicated that an 11 knot crosswind is not a crosswind in an early model. I contend that the number is much higher than that if you use the right technique.
    1 point
  24. LASAR has those also. In addition, they have their own PMA'ed oversized bushings for just about every landing gear part, as well. BTW- they are also cheaper than the Mooney factory parts (which they carry too.)
    1 point
  25. We do the same thing at all three of our dealerships with menu pricing. We also sell a three pack of oil changes and unless there is an up sell we lose money on every single one. However year after year analysis shows that our customer retention is higher than the other dealerships in the region and the up sells from the multi-point inspection more than makes up for the loss on the oil changes.
    1 point
  26. But it is Canadian Dollars, Clarence
    1 point
  27. The 350 is a terrific plane. Engine out procedure out of Aspen: "Cimb runway heading". Impressive. In the sim, we took off out of MEM 36C, pulled up to .99 AOA, climbed to 6000' at 4000 fpmm turned back (using rudder), went to idle thrust and easily entered downwind, landed 36C. (Yes, we had to deactivate the stick pusher.) Fun. Impressive.
    1 point
  28. Nice touch with the carbon fiber panel. It looks great!
    1 point
  29. Apparently you were typing while i was screenshotting . . . You referenced the Note, I provided the text of the Note. We must "be prepared for all known and unknown situations that may or may not exist."
    1 point
  30. The more I think about it, IAS is just that, what is on the airspeed indicator and should correlate to critical speeds. CAS is a correction factor, usually left to a chart that Mooney did not readily provide. Critical airspeed should correlate to the IAS, even if the engineering values (CAS) were different. This stall speed situation is not making sense. Will chat with a couple of the aero guys at work tomorrow. That should really blow my mind.
    1 point
  31. Yup, getting tired and didn’t think it through....but now I see your dilemma. Leaning toward what Anthony and Hank posted, but it is certainly not clear. I started looking at the old CAA regs and they start off simple enough, but then throw in some variables.
    1 point
  32. The difference is 5 knots, 10%! 50 kts vs. 55. We're not talking about a specific plane, just the paperwork. If Anthony (and Hank) or on the right track then the CAS at low speed is 5 knots higher than the IAS.
    1 point
  33. Since we are picking nits down to the 1 mph. It will probably vary with each airframe. Each airframe is hand built and the stall strips are custom to that airframe. Applied after test flights.
    1 point
  34. Smart phones and tablets add a lot of value. Having them wired to ship's power adds to their value. Having them supply attitude type info is a great capability. If a docking station makes that happen... +1. I don't have a docking station yet... Best regards, -a-
    1 point
  35. Seeing the fuel pressure disappear so quickly... And it not leaking out anywhere... I get the feeling, there may be a lot of fuel going to the engine that is not being accounted for... up for trying something different? Turn on the ignition before turning on the fuel pump... It is possible that the engine is getting flooded by dumping what is about ten pumps + of the throttle to the engine... An ordinary engine mechanic with knowledge of our carbs should be able to make the proper adjustment or fix the seal that must be leaking... Would definitely want to know what is not working before flying it, as it could get worse... PP thoughts only, not a mechanic.. Best regards, -a-
    1 point
  36. Here is some thoughts on this topic from a few leading experts: from Walt Atkinson -- "Lycoming publishes that min. operational CHT is 150dF. TCM does not publish a number that I have been able to find, but reading between the lines indicates that it is something in the 200dF range. TCM sets the water-cooled engine with the same cylinders as the air-cooled engine to run continuously at 240dF. These are data-based numbers, and not "opinions". Forget about running too cool unless you're operating out of Barrow, AK, in Feb." Mike Busch's article -- https://www.avweb.com/news/savvyaviator.savvy_aviator_59_egt_cht_and_leaning-198162-1.html It's possible to run CHTs so cold that the tetraethyl lead (TEL) in the 100LL is not properly scavenged and starts creating metallic lead deposits in the combustion chamber and lead-fouling the spark plugs. However, in most engines, it takes verycool CHTs (down in the mid-200s °F or lower) for an extended period of time (hours) for this to cause a problem. We usually see this problem in airplanes used for fish spotting, pipeline patrol, search and rescue, and other "loiter-mode" operations. Unless you fly at very low power settings (e.g., 50 percent) and/or at very high altitudes and very cold OATs (e.g., FL240 and -30°C), it's not usually a problem. My caveat -- This should only be a concern at both very low power settings (evidenced by low EGT) and low CHTs, and thirdly ROP. If the very cool operating temps are during LOP combustion it will keep things very clean making the engine less susceptible to lead deposit inn the combustion chamber and valve guides and lead fouling on spark plugs. However, for Turbo's though, I do add the caution to slowly increase power till CHT's get to 250-260F (per Continental) before going to full power.
    1 point
  37. Shower of sparks is working like a champ. It doesn't engage til you push the key in. See video. Definitely leaning towards a fuel issue
    1 point
  38. We have the newer adjustable seats, but Brenda wanted the seat back even more upright. Years ago when the Mooney factory was doing maintenance work, we were at Kerrville for homecoming. We asked them if they could adjust the right seat back to be more upright. They ended up reversing the threaded block that the adjustment rod turns in to pull the seat back farther forward. We had them check and adjust rigging at the same time.
    1 point
  39. Ok, I believe I found the vibrator. In the hardest, most impossible place to reach. See photos. One is from underneath, the other is with the autopilot controller pulled out. It's in there. When I turn the key to start, but don't push in, I hear no buzzing nor can I feel anything if I have my hand on it when the key is rotated. I tried the bump starting thing and no joy. Fuel pressure video also attached. Pressure goes up and then drops immediately when the pump is turned off. Where would you go from here?
    1 point
  40. Flight is about a week old but had a fun one to share. Flew from TTA to LYH last Sunday. The region to the east of the blue ridge sometimes gets that bowl effect where the foothills further to the east trap a layer of moisture and that was the local microclimate for the day (the larger picture was stationary front to the NW and a temperature inversion that kept the low layer low) but it ended up being one of those 300-400 ft ceilings with 10 SM below the deck kind of days. I filed for RDU as my alternate, although stations to the west were all reporting 500-1000ft ovc or better. Flight up was uneventful. Did an ILS to just above mins. New avionics performed as advertised. I was expecting the ceilings to lift a little- but this didn’t happen. Temp dew point spread never really budged for the day. I delivered my cargo wanting to depart before sunset, I filed for the next leg ILM. The weather was forecast to start deteriorating further after sunset and I didn’t want to be lingering if I didn’t need to. So the decision was to Go for the next leg. Departure was great - kept the localizer frequency dialed in and had three sources of terrain avoidance up and running for an IMC and briefed exactly when I wanted to be on instruments so there were no surprises. Topped out at about 3000ft. There was a beautiful sunset and great remainder of a night flight to Wilmington. Things they don’t tell you in the NOTAMs - just to the north of the ILM Airport fence was a county fair type thing. I haven’t seen one in about 30-years so the brightness of the insane LED inferno was quite offputting and made the runway hard to find. Fortunately had the ILS tuned in before I was cleated for a visual approach. But the lights and Ferris wheel were so bright that it was distracting on final and did make the runway kind of hard to find. The line guys at Wilmington were super helpful and ran me back out to my plane (I park far away on the ramp as I prefer to not be towed) as a jar of homemade soup my in laws gave me on the stop-over was summarily forgotten. Hopped in a rental car and headed to a good seafood dinner at a local oyster bar. Till next time -B Video disclaimer : not very good. iPhone ignored in the corner as I had more pressing things to attend to...
    1 point
  41. I must say they behave better than the human drivers.... They are more courteous when changing lanes (if you signal). They don't spend all their time driving looking at their phones. They go the speed limit. They will yield to other cars in almost all circumstances. They actually stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. They never drink and drive. They seem to notice everything around them. They never have inattention.
    1 point
  42. I don't think I would fly any of these things higher then I'm willing to fall. How would like to fly with 16 lawnmower blades right next to you?
    1 point
  43. 1 point
  44. CFIIs can be gleefully mean. Calling ATC on the phone has become my preferred method for nontowered fields when conditions don’t allow for opening in the air, compared with calling FSS or using a click-click-drop-the-call RCO. I’ve been getting into the habit of asking the last approach controller at my destination if they have a number I can use. (yes, my headset connects to my phone)
    1 point
  45. Gusty crosswind I have had to switch from crab line up get shoved around, crab line up shoved around to a one wheel landing. Gusty crosswind I will just go for the onewheel landing it keeps the wing down and from getting picked up. I have done 14 gusting to 28. The mooney is great crosswind plane.
    1 point
  46. You have legacy avionics in your airplane like I have in mine. Two years ago I was trying to figure out what I should do with ADS-B and everything else. I ended up going with the Lynx 9000 NGT and really love the unit. The avionics upgrade issue came down to a major bill for my situation. In order for me to upgrade to a big box WAAS GPS/NAV/COM, I would have to replace my existing switch panel as it would not properly interface with the GPS. Same thing with my VOR Indicator. One of them would need to be upgraded / replaced as well. Additionally, I too have a separate 3LMB like yours. The new switch panel would incorporate that so my separate unit would need to be removed at that point. Also, the new big box unit would eliminate the need for the ADF, it’s Indicator and antennae. So all that and the associated wiring can be removed. Now the panel covers would have all these holes in them so...time for new metal panel covers? To further complicate my situation, there would not be sufficient remaining space in my stack for my existing #2 NAV/COM. I would need to replace that perfectly good radio with a slimline type NAV/COM. Finally, it would be time for a new Weight & Balance. Figure out what all the above would cost and that is why I went with the Lynx unit providing ADS-B In & Out to use with my iFly 740 for navigation. These upgrade projects can become a classic case of one thing leads to another and another... Great job convincing your Wife that buying the airplane is a less expensive solution! Not sure you’ll be able to pull that one off again but I am proud of you!!
    1 point
  47. Psh, I carry a suppressed 45* never know when you might get lost innawoods and need to quietly dispatch dinner *proper paperwork required.
    1 point
  48. We departed yesterday--KFUL>RV to 3000ft>SLI>Thermal VOR, Direct...of course, I get the "can you climb faster?" and I am all, "I've got the wife, kid and mother-n-law in tow, be happy I am doing 400fpm!"
    1 point
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