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Here's a close-up of the center section I took at Paul's salvage hangar in Lakeport:

My wife sent this to me yesterday.

Well, it turned out to be the crankshaft seal. I had a 3rd person do it. He followed the Lycoming instructions to the letter. Spent a lot of time cleaning the crank with MEK and fine sanding. Installed a solid seal and new o-ring. Not a drop following run-up and short flight. What a relief.

Captain is calm and cool throughout the flight! Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

What I learn from that, is that's most likely exactly what caused it. We are all susceptible to "I've done this hundreds of times unscathed, I can do it again". But maybe not with a tailwind, or an unexpected wind gust or a distraction on the ground or in the cockpit or on a day that you just aren't 100%. 99 out of 100 is great in most endeavors, except flying. I feel more comfortable with a higher margin of safety. There are a lot of things we can't control, but what field we base at we can control. I also choose to base at an airpark, but the runway is 3800 feet long and 80 feet wide. Do I need it to be that long? Not most of the time, but if a few of my pilot imperfections surface that day along with something unexpected, I have a better chance of getting it stopped safely.

Not worth it indeed. It's been very tame around here without political speak, and we are better off for it. Although I wouldn't mind hearing how Little Timmy has been doing all these years later.

That's a lot of hours per year but many working planes do like that. A local airline, Cape Air flies a fleet of C402's. I was talking to the mechanics and if I remember correctly they are overhauling the engines on those things every 2 or 3 years with 2600hrs on them by then. (Remember the TV show Wings? That was them...) And they have been in service for years - I would guess they have somewhere like 25,000 to 50,000 hrs on them. I have heard of DC3's with upwards of 250,000 hrs on them. A wing should not be falling off a piper at 7000 hrs unless something went terribly awry.

Expect to pay upwards of 10K or more for insurance on a C model used for training, expect to spend about 20K or more to get your Commercial, Instrument and CFI tix, Oh, and dont put anything in your name or own any assets. You will then be on your way to making about what a paper boy makes only in aviation.

Found this one

Spent the last 5 days with this awesome bird Even got a little right seat time

KSMooniac Thank you for posting the audio.

Should have had a robotic arm bitch slap the pilot to remind him then.

Let’s see.... 1. Airlines don’t seem to make much money and go bankrupt here and there. Ask me how I know. Invested in Continental and watched the stock go all the way up to zero. 2. Bigger charter services seem to do ok but the smaller ones usually don’t. 3. CFIs spouses usually make money or the CFIs have another job too. 4. Mechanics don’t make a ton. Car mechanics have less regs, worse quality, and still make more typically. 5. I make good money, then spend it all on flying so realistically I don’t make money. 6. The drug runners make a ton of money but somehow end up in jail. I’ve heard that the most fun while flying is being chased while 2x over gross while low on fuel loaded full of some illicit substance while flying(sarcasm). In conclusion to all of our threads on these subjects is obviously FLYING is worth more than money. It has to be doesn’t it?

Kelly Couch, who attended the Paso Robles Fly-In just sent this Drone Video to us. Enjoy:

Those of you who have been following the chronicles of Mooney Six One Zulu already know that she suffered extensive damage to the wing back in September when my partner ran off the runway while re-positioning her away from Hurricane Irma. Nearly eight months and tens of thousands of dollars later she is back home. Work was completed by Air Services at West Georgia Regional (KCTJ) and they took very good care of her.

We flew our 252 from Germany to the southern most tip of South America and back again between September 17 and March 18. This was our route: Many may have heard about our trip via fb, but anyway, maybe there are members here who haven't and are interested in a report. I've written continuously on a European GA forum, here is the link: https://www.euroga.org/forums/trips-airports/9174-to-the-end-of-the-world-and-back-the-whole-story#post_176978 (I hope it's OK to post a link to another forum here)

New partner in a '65 M20E Super21 based in Massachusetts. I'm working towards complex sign-off while transitioning from C172s. The wealth of knowledge, active participation, varied opinions and factual references make this site a treasure trove for someone ramping on their aircraft knowledge and flying skills. Thank You! Dave

Your mechanic doesn't know his a** from a hole in the ground. Glazing is usually a result of poor break-in. Your cylinder temps are perfect. edit: was that worded too strongly?

It will be interesting to see how they proceed. It is unlikely the fleet will be grounded unless they changed their views on these matters. The 737 uncommanded rudder accidents are a good example of how they have proceeded in the past. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_rudder_issues Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Home, James....

I have the original paperwork from my 67F. It sold new for $17,500

I believe Cessna stepped up to Part 23 for the restart in 94...you could look at prices of 172's in 1986 and 1994 for a first estimate. I know at least their new seats were compliant...perhaps the rest of that plane already satisfied the new regs. The legal stuff is what has hurt the most.... The cost of liability insurance is 15-20% for components, and gets compounded as parts/material pass through each supplier in the chain. It is disgusting, frankly. I suspect half the price of new planes is related to that compounded liability exposure. Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

IIRC, there was an accident in Alaska where a prop on an Electra turboprop separated. By all accounts, it flew forwards, danced around, then came back and sliced a hole in the belly of the fuselage. Okay, I was trying to make you feel better, but after typing that, I realized I probably made it worse.

Here is a picture from another angle with a fan blade clearly missing: http://todays-news.org/2018/04/18/ntsb-engine-in-deadly-southwest-jet-incident-missing-a-fan-blade/

As an example I have a LODA to instruct and receive compensation in an experimental aircraft. The process is not straightforward. And it comes with its own set of rules. Associations can be a great help in these matters. --You can go it alone, but it will take a lot more effort.

Lawyers Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just listened to the recordings of the ATC comms between the flight crew and New York Center / Philly Approach / Philly tower. It is posted to https://soundcloud.com/themorningcall/swa1380-left-engine-failure-april-14th Pilot talking displayed the best possible attributes of someone facing danger and loss of life. We should all aspire to be this good in an emergency. Cool headed. Focussed on the task at hand. Developing and implementing acceptable options. Speaking calmly to ATC, who appear to be just itching to give as much help as possible - some of which may not be necessary. Leadership to inspire others. Prayers for the lady who passed.

Ok, we have 2 sets of regulations, one for members of the NBAA and one set for those that are not.

I made it to KLAL early Friday afternoon following our pre-dawn departure into a Houston overcast. We landed 20 minutes prior to the airfield closure after the 778 nm flight. We flew a couple of offshore legs to avoid Pensacola airspace and Tampa/S&F traffic. It was my first visit to S&F and I thought the controllers did a great job. “Aim for the green dot; land on the red”. Ground transportation was a bit confused for those of us forced to park in the boonies, but we worked it out. IMO Enterprise really dropped the ball by not accepting rental car returns on Sunday; consequently we opted for a Lyft to and from our off-site lodging. As always it was a pleasure seeing Jolie (Callsign: Buttercup) at the nice Mooney booth. Having never been there before I thought that the physical layout (at S&F) was a bit disjointed but I eventually saw most everything. Sorry I didn’t get to see more MS’ers but there wasn’t much time for socializing with my abbreviated schedule. I have to say that comparatively the Mooney Caravan ROCKS with their big tent and activities at Airventure! The most surprising thing for me was the steep show discounts that Garmin was giving on their G5 setups! Offering the free autopilot with a dual-G5 purchase was quite generous even though I’ll still be waiting a while for my M20 to be added to the AML. Lastly, it must suck being a meteorologist ‘cause that awful forecast they threw against the wall regarding the timing of the frontal passage left a lot to be desired. After waiting out the weather for 4 hours Sunday at Lake City (KLCQ) we eventually got to depart into light rain, overcast skies, and a stiff headwind. Luckily the city-owned FBO provided free hot dogs, chips, and drinks for all the grounded planes (people) during our stopover. They even had a pool table in a pilot lounge area! Nice job! Chuck (Bubbles) Noe Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Be very careful. The FAA measures "commercial" with a micrometer. My brother, as a favor, flew a stranded airplane back to a local flight school. Enroute the engine failed. He successfully landed in a farmer's field. When the FAA found out about it, they charged him with flying a commercial operation. My brother pointed out that he received no compensation and it was done as a favor. The FAA said BS. It maintained that the flight time was compensation and proceeded to make his life miserable for about 6 months.

I know it's difficult, but try not to get emotionally involved in the airplane until a good set of eyes look it over thoroughly. Some of the best money on a pre-buy is for an airplane you walk away from. It's theirs until you find out that you have a winner.

It has been shown to usually be the loose nut behind the yoke . . . . Strength of design is one of the (several) things I really like about my Mooney.

Great follow-up, RB! Best regards, -a-

@201er @Marcopolo it's a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor. Our local EAA chapter arranged for it to come down as part of its tour. If you are part of EAA at the chapter level you should really get it to stop in your area, rides are given Thursday thru Sunday from 9:00 ~ 5:00....... Well worth the effort

Your carb has an enrichment circuit. You can see it’s linked operation under the cowl. It is only open at full throttle... (on the ground) Pulling back the throttle to see a small amount of MP wiggle is all it should take... (in the air) @Hank has the best description for how he handles it... There are a few drawings for the M+S carburetor posted around here. The entire manual section for Mooney is about 2.5 pages long with drawings... worthy of a good read... Best regards, -a-

here is a picture of the center wing with the spar sticking out both sides. It is a little hard to see. The yellowish green is the spar.

Contential Flange A-1633-3 Lycoming Flange. A-1633-11 The A-1633-9A is used inside the Propeller on the pitch Change rod

chrixxer, Here is a pic of my position. Finger indicates position of trim; I have the tail tied down and didn't want to move the trim while I'm doing maint. Mine is a '69 F, but YMMV. Stephen

The electric flaps on the '69 F are continuously variable.

The iPad is connected to a FreeFlight (WAAS) or Stratus 2S (WAAS) GPS source. I'm reading everything I can find on her, and will be limiting my operations to big/wide/easy airports while I get used to her. No intention of ever landing off-airport again, unless it's intentional and in someone else's plane.

The FAA has busted people for this in the 30 years I've been flying. @yankele - consider going to an airline (or any other flying job) interview and having to explain why you have a violation on your record. Taking shortcuts is for amateurs. Commercial pilots are supposed to be professionals. Any scheme you can think of has already been tried and ultimately shut down- otherwise everyone would still be doing it.

I do not think I would sound that calm......I wonder what it would take to actually rattle her cage? maybe a unleashed dog running around the airport or some touch and go's in a Mooney or perhaps running out of camguard?

Found exactly the same thing in my "F" & I use Scranton's technique .... half in, half out.

If want to buy a plane and need to reduce your cost of flying, consider a partner. Either way, you need to realize that your costs only begin with the purchase.

I really dont mind writing big checks to the Gubbermint, it means I did well for myself the previous year. I do, however, mind them wasting what I send them.

Ditto. I do not lend to the government. Their interest rate is zero. We will drop the checks off at the post office before it closes.

That is what I do too. Without preheat start our planes in cold weather may be a real pain. Make sure your battery is in top notch and well charged. Mixture rich Prop forward Master on Fuel pump on until you get pressure then off. Pump twice or three times, depending how cold it is THEN WAIT count until 30 (in my case I wait until the JPI loads) crank and hope for the best. 90% of the cases she starts up Then I put the alternator on line, Avionics Master on etc.

half flaps will pop them off the runway. No flaps and you have to work them off.

Probably should note the models...I’d bet almost all turbo drivers fly IFR, and vintage would have the largest % of VFR.

As a general rule, do not take airplane purchasing advice from a CFI.