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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/17/2018 in all areas

  1. On my ATP checkride in that gawd awful Seneca. The examiner discreetly reached down between the seats and shut the fuel off to one of the engines. When it quite I reached down and switched tanks which turned the fuel back on. He was a bit mad and said he wanted to see how I would handle an engine failure. I said I did.
    9 points
  2. Time has a way of slipping by almost unnoticed---until it is. Yesterday I had the honor of participating in a Wright Brothers Master Pilot awards presentation. There were 3 of us getting the award. One of the requirements is having flown for 50 years. The time starts from the first solo flight. Not surprising all of us had first soloed in 1967. As I listened to the accomplishments of the other 2 participants given by Karen Arendt, the FAAST Team manager at the San Jose FISDO, I marveled at how unpretentious both were in our pre award conversations. You can do a lot in 50 years, as was demonstrated by these two individuals. Karen first showed a movie detailing the Wright Brothers step by step achievement towards attaining powered flight. Then she detailed the histories of each pilot with input from each as she went along. Photos from each of us went a long way in guiding those biographies. I remember Karen talking to me about receiving the "Blue Ribbon Package" which determines one's eligibility. That package was given to each of us and contained every document the FAA has ever had on us. Once home I reviewed it, and a lot of memories were brought back. It contained the results of every knowledge test, every flight test ever taken, every medical, and every renewal of the flight instructor certificate. Needless to say after 50 years it is pretty thick. And just think, the FAA has this record on each and every pilot in the United States. We were given a beautiful plaque, a letter acknowledging 50 years of our lifetime in aviation, and lapel pins for us and our spouses. The celebration finished wth distribution of pieces of cake that Karen brought and is shown below. All in all quite a day.
    6 points
  3. Sorry Jose, but I must correct you on this statement. In an engine out scenario in a twin, it is absolutely imperative that correct rudder application is immediately applied followed by a 5 deg bank into the live engine, not the dead engine. I am very familiar with the accident in Taiwan, the subject of the links you provided. The aircraft was a near new ATR72-600, the same type as I fly for a living and have performed a similar failure in an ATR simulator, as have my colleagues, as part of one of our 6 monthly checks following this accident. The brief facts are following a normal takeoff at about 1,400’ at the correct climb out speed, the No. 2 Pratt & Whitney (right) engine suddenly at full power went into auto feather, meaning the prop suddenly feathered. The system is designed that if an engine suddenly fails and falls below 30% torque with the auto feather system armed, the failed engine props will immediately feather without crew input. When there is a malfunction such as what occurred here with the props going into auto feather at full power, it can be confirmed by Torque, NH (gas generator) and RPM indications on the malfunctioning side. This engine is then manually shut down by the crew. In this instance the crew panicked, shut down the wrong engine resulting in both engines having props in the feathered state and going down, losing speed at the same time. They then became preoccupied with attempting to restart the good engine with decaying speed until the left wing stalled, struck the bridge and crashed inverted into a river. All of this is moot relating to this tragic Baron accident or to Mooney and for this I apologise. I mentioned this for those Mooniacs who intend to convert to twin engine flying. Whether you are flying a light twin or heavy turbo prop, following an engine out after takeoff it is most important to apply correct rudder application, 5 deg bank into the live engine and NEVER touch any throttle or prop levers without CONFIRMATION, otherwise you greatly risk shutting down the wrong engine. Sadly, it does happen.
    5 points
  4. I got to see a famous Mooney today. We didn't actually fly, but I guess there was flying involved to get here. Andrew's @Hyett6420 beautiful M20J G-OBAL! With a largely original 1987 panel it is one of the nicest J's I've ever seen. The paint is absolutely perfect. Unfortunately there is some paperwork that is keeping it grounded at the moment. Thanks to Andrew and Andrew for a great day at the airport! I can imagine this is an amazing way to get the South of France for holidays or just across to Normandy for lunch. The interior designed by Andrew and created and shipped to England by Hector at AeroComfort in San Antonio is incredible. Here's how you keep the birds from roosting on the antennas. This is about $8.86 per gallon for 100LL and it's probably gone up since then. We spent some time in the Control tower as well learning the English way of controlling traffic. Cheers
    4 points
  5. One thing I know, I’m impressed a whole lot more by the contributors to MS when the discussion sticks to Mooneys........
    4 points
  6. Probably not much help, but mine are just the cost of parts. I do my own inspections.
    4 points
  7. I got most of the coating off today and it looks better without it. I ordered a screen protector and I think I’ll be happy with that solution.
    3 points
  8. Tommy, I won't get into a long drawn out debate on a subject that we cannot solve here, specifically the existence of God, as you have a right to have, or not have faith as you wish. However, your statement " ... another thing to prove that god does not exist" proves nothing. Let me correct my own statement, you are correct, the god that guarantees that humans cannot kill themselves, regardless of their actions, does not exist. The god that says no human will ever get cancer, or any other serious illness, does not exist. The god that says, if you are doing a charitable action, you are free to defy the laws of gravity and still live, does not exist. The god that says you will live on this earth forever, does not exist. In other words, every one of us is going to die at some time. Some from an incurable disease, some from tragic accidents, some from the body giving out with old age, but we will all die. The fact that we will all die, for some reason, does not prove the existence or non-existence of God. Now, I am not telling you what to believe, or not believe, but your statement that this proves there is no God, is not correct, regardless of your belief.
    3 points
  9. Kill 2 birds with one expensive stone. Consider upgrade to the Avidyne 540.
    3 points
  10. During all of my transition trainings, at some appropriate time, I will simulate an engine failure. I have been emphasizing how to manipulate the controls and find a suitable field even if it is the airport. I have not been emphasizing the importance of immediately (and what should be a memory item to do when time is of the essence and there is no time to pull out the checklist) switching tanks. And as ridiculous and improbable as it may seem to accidentally end up with a tank dry when there is plenty of fuel in the other tank, there are unusual chain of events that can occur that can lead to that outcome. Don't let it happen to you. Always, and I mean always, pre brief before takeoff what you will do in the event of an engine failure on takeoff. It will save 4 to 5 seconds of "startle effect" along with possibly saving your life.
    2 points
  11. My wife took a great picture without editing believe it or not. Something about having the wing in there just balances a good photo.
    2 points
  12. Probably better for the arteries than the fried chick, chips and apple pie with cream Andrewx2 treated us to I’m March. We had too little time to see Baby.
    2 points
  13. Curious, why would you consider jumping the plane and flying? Especially if there is potential bad weather? I would pull the battery, charge it and make sure it holds a charge before I consider flying with a questionable battery. I have had electrical failures in flight, and running on battery was not pleasant. I would not want to think how bad it could have been if my battery was questionable. And lead acid batteries, when you drain them fully are often wrecked... Tim
    2 points
  14. We don't have the CRM that exists in the cockpit of a jet. Add to that that most of us are amateur/weekend pilots. We also don't have the automation or computers that most jets have. Attending the APS class in Ada, OK there was a discussion of how most private pilots over complicate fuel management, especially in low wing airplanes where we have to switch tanks. They put forward a very compelling argument that included simplifying the steps involved in fuel management (fewer tank switches) and the benefits of running a tank dry to ensure correct data on useable fuel and location of said fuel. I've taken it to heart and it works so well and is so simple. My range has increased significantly as a result of knowing fuel.
    2 points
  15. Two men that were loved and respected perished while trying to help others. Noble are thee. PTK especially thinking of you as well as families and loved ones. This thread, as most, shows the best and absolutely worst of MooneySpace. All my thoughts have been clearly communicated by others so I will just say: Peace and Love.
    2 points
  16. 2 points
  17. I am curious, you had just had the mags overhauled and within 6hours the case was cracked? Was it a Bendix/slick? I am also curious as to where the case was cracked - near the mounting flange? If someone installs a Bendix mag with a slick gasket or omit the 'special washer's required for installation, the case certainly can crack. So many things can be screwed up on an airplane by not having the proper information or technical data. They hide that information in books
    2 points
  18. We just had a C come out of our shop: there was a significant amount of 'deferred maintenance' that had to be addressed. He upgraded his engine monitor, gear pucks, a few expensive landing gear bushings, down lock block... He purchased most of the parts himself to save our markup and I believe his total expense was around 6G to my knowledge. We've run across old invoices in other aircraft records and upon examination were flabbergasted how some were really taken advantage of. One example of that was a total of 80hrs to r&r an engine (on a J) - it usually takes 21-24 hours on a J that has primary engine monitors (JPI). Most shops are reasonable and fair, but there are some that are just unscrupulous. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    2 points
  19. Why do people feel the need to touch the screens???????????????? I see this all the time at work as well. I just don’t get it
    2 points
  20. I have the STEC version stand alone electric trim on my current E, I did not have it on 49M which I owned for a long time. I do find it useful though, primarily when trimming nose up for landing. From down wind/base/final my right hand is operating the throttle, the hydraulic flaps, the JBar gear... I can hold my left thumb on the trim switch without interfering with yoke manipulation. Apparently the STEC (Genesys) is still offered ~ $3500 + installation: http://sarasotaavionics.com/avionics/manual-electric-trim
    2 points
  21. Here is our flight yesterday evening from Kptd to kbgr and some beautiful sunset looking back toward my Washington area up toward Canada. today we are at Charlottetown pei.
    2 points
  22. Wednesday night I met up with @ThorFlight and @lotsofgadgets in Redwing, MN for some formation practice. ThorFlight and I attended the Flying Monkeys Clinic in Newton last month and it was time to clean some light rust off and hone our skills a bit. Lotsofgadgets and his son (both are pilots) flew in to ride along and observe (and possibly get hooked into this formation thing). I see the start of a MN wing Lotsofgadgets snapped some great photos of ThorFlight with my camera. Cheers, Dan
    2 points
  23. The right jack will poke a hole in a wing just as well as a homemade jack.
    2 points
  24. You are absolutely correct. I think I’ve spent too much time in the southern USA. I did feel much healthier after returning to Memphis after 2 weeks of fabulous food in SW France and a flame grilled chicken in London.
    1 point
  25. Clarence, I normally agree with you, but I really can't agree with you here. If a twin loses an engine, it's a handful, but if I lose the engine on my Mooney, it stays safely in my hangar until I find it.
    1 point
  26. Strongly suggest 65% power or less (I ran 59% as the most efficient setting with reasonable speed) in any variant of a TSIO-360 as Paul mentioned versus 75% power, unless you don't mind doing a top overhaul . . . or two, before TBO.
    1 point
  27. I for one would be interested in an updated inspection check list for my vintage Mooney reflecting the more thorough checklist used for 21 century Mooneys.
    1 point
  28. I find "ignore" works well . . . . Also, bad things happening do not disprove the existence of a benevolent God. Dust off your Bible and read the book of Job . . . Or most any of the books. Bad stuff happens. What's important is your response to what happens, be it good things or bad. I won't be flying my Mooney today, I'm in town for a wedding this evening.
    1 point
  29. We charge for 24hours. Most aircraft manufacturers have some sort of reference document outlining how long an annual should take. We always average on the low side. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    1 point
  30. I have a panel mounted GPS, the Avidyne 440 and it does not have any fingerprints at all. That's because I use the IFD 100 Ipad app for all entry except for the squawk code and I use the knobs for that. Bartman drops the mike and walks away....
    1 point
  31. God normally is associated with the creator of everything humans can perceive and the source of energy to maintain human existence. By this definition you would assume that the Sun is the God of mankind, since all the planets came from the Sun creation and all mankind relies on the Sun for survival. The Incas and other tribes believed that the Sun was the God. Not a bad assessment when the Sun created our solar system and every living thing on it. But by scientific assessment and other religions the Sun has no soul to listen to prayers. But without it there will be no daylight but total darkness and cold. So tomorrow smile to the Sun and give it a thumbs up. But as you know man has found more stars like the Sun so are there multiple Gods or a master God? So science has found the Master God? Check this out. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=god+particle+explained&view=detail&mid=223E76EA9A1C1AF22B24223E76EA9A1C1AF22B24&FORM=VIRE But no matter what after all my prayers on Sunday mass (when I was a kid) I never got the winning Lotto number. In fact I never won anything, not even at Bingo. José
    1 point
  32. I spent $2k just on labor on my first annual, not to mention $1.3k on mag overhauls. Total for parts and labor was ~$5k. Flew 6 hours, engine started running rough. Second mechanic pulled the mags and 1 case was cracked. Believe me when I tell you I’m not bragging!
    1 point
  33. PTK I am sorry for your loss. As @mike_elliott stated, it is very sad when any of our brothers or sisters perish while piloting an aircraft. I pray for the family members and friends that knew him.
    1 point
  34. This has been widely discussed before, but I've always found Mike Busch's description of reman engines interesting: Now, when TCM or Lycoming builds up a factory rebuilt engine (colloquially but incorrectly referred to as a "factory reman"), it pulls some "anonymous" case halves from one pile, an "anonymous" crankshaft from another pile, and so forth. When the engine is completely assembled, it gets a new data plate, a new serial number, and a new logbook. The logbook starts out at zero time-in-service. Why zero? Because there's no other reasonable figure to put in the logbook. The case halves are certainly not zero-time, but there's no record of how much time they've accrued. The crankshaft may not be new, but there's no record of how much time is on the crank, either. And so on. In short, the "zero-time" logbook that comes with a factory rebuilt engine in no way implies that the engine is "newer" or "better" than a field overhaul. All it implies is that the reused components in the engine are of unknown heritage...nobody knows how long they were in service prior to the time then were cleaned up, inspected, and reused in your engine! https://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182849-1.html
    1 point
  35. Like this (before two resurrections):
    1 point
  36. I buy the argument that a rebuilt engine has an advantage that some or all major components have come out of engines that survived a previous engine. As such, intuitively, they would be less prone to "infant mortality" failures from manufacturing.
    1 point
  37. Here are the results. Got off the flight from Hong Kong in Toronto and instead of taking the scheduled (booked and paid for) flight to Ottawa, caught a shuttle and spent the night in Brantford. Picked up my Mooney on Friday the 15th. Took it to Clarence's to fix an oil leak and purchase a used pair of K model yolks and then flew it home. Yolks and seat cams will be installed during the annual after Oshkosh. The checkride with the instructor in Brantford went well. I was prepared and he could see that. Basics on the use of the G5 with the 480 are OK. What needs tweaking is the sequence of buttonology which involves three instruments: G5, STEC 50 and 480. I filed IFR for the run home (in severely clear weather) for my own exercise. You can see that my track is not quite as straight as kpaul's. The guys in the shop were telling me that the STEC 50 course adjustments (at least on my STEC) are too course for the inputs provided by the 480 and G5. A resistor is needed in the line somewhere. They are looking. The shop did a one-time download onto the database card and I was good to go - fully compliant with both Tpt Canada and FAA IFR requirements. I am now /G!!! In the aircraft outside of Clarence's shop, I got the Wx briefing (Foreflight and Skew T charts), prepared a flight plan using RNAV routes, called my girl, filed my flight plan and then started up. Did the runup and asked tower for a clearance and got "approved as filed." Then things got interesting. One the way to the hold short point tower came back and told me that "Centre was not pleased" with the routing. OK. Instead of going north around the ins and outs of heavy iron into YYZ, they wanted me to go South. OK. Change 1. Change the Foreflight. Change the 480. Airborne off of 32, I contact Centre and they give me another change. Change 2. They are "not pleased" with the routing through Toronto terminal airspace and they have a new and improved routing. Guess where? You got it - North (almost as originally filed). OK. Change the Foreflight. Change the 480. (Are the quick readers here picking up a pattern?) In the middle of all that I forgot the take the GPSS off (or was it on) in the G5 we weren't headed where we should be. Plan B. Kick the 480 out of GPS instructions to the G5 and put it in VOR mode - take the GPSS off and set the heading bug so the STEC can at least follow something that is correct. Put it all back together when the flight plan in correct in the 480 and then turn it onto GPS instructions to the G5 with GPSS now engaged again. OK. Good. That is the perfectly aligned segment just north of Toronto. Lesson? Forget the Foreflight until after the 480 is back to sequencing waypoints, then play with Foreflight. Then, following T614 (the third of the routes they picked out for me to follow). Centre takes out two of the waypoints (that have turns in them that the GPS is correctly sequencing) and clears me direct to a third. 15 seconds later they ask why I have not turned on the new course????!!!!! Sheesh!!!! I swear someone told them that this was the maiden flight of my new setup. Remainder of the flight was relatively uneventful. Messing with the Ram Air (about 70 miles from Ottawa) turned my STEC off inadvertently and that raised the pucker factor some - until I corrected that. But I am getting better at EMRE for the 480 and I have learned that if it gets complicated, kick it out of GPS to VOR mode and take the GPSS off of the G5 so that the STEC can follow the heading bug until the new plan is in place and ready to Execute. In the meantime I absolutely love doing RNAV approaches with vertical guidance provided by the GPS. The STEC now almost never leaves HDG mode and the NAV functions are just between the 480 and the G5. Life is very good. But I will be checking with the shop about enhancing the fineness of the STEC outputs so that my track looks as straight as kpaul's. More pics. I have to find a way to power my ADS-B in, my iPad in a way that keeps the cables behind the instrument panel - and the coax for my handheld. Left side shows rock solid performance. Right side (notice the Sensorcon) shows the sequencing for T614. The 480 is waaaayyyy better than the 430 to fly. Next week, Danville, VA and the Mooney Caravan practice.
    1 point
  38. We took a short flight down to VCB today for lunch and to pick up a few things. Man the wind was really working it today as we were getting 30 knots but luck was on our side as they were running right down 20. Sprayed a little Triflow on the J bar as we were having a bit of trouble getting the gear safe light on a previous flight. Man now that thing just jumps into the lock block and gives a nice green safe light without even trying to force it up. As windy as things were was pleasantly surprised that the air turned out to be pretty smooth. My wife noticed a familiar Mooney on the ramp at our home field.
    1 point
  39. You might want your A/P to look over your gear. When I was rebuilding my plane, the gear was very difficult to raise. It turns out that the compression rods that were in the plane were the wrong ones and that the large gear assist springs were not being compressed enough. With the correct rods installed, my gear is quick and can be raised and locked easily with two fingers. John Breda
    1 point
  40. Good news! We got a ferry permit and flew the plane close to home! I confirmed the not-labeled indicators and instruments were: low/high vaccum, radio knobs, and the EGT selector in the above posts just as we thought. The engine sounds great, and the ferry pilot who happens to be a jet check-pilot with a lot of mooney time, said everything seemed fine! Here it is for the last time at the Barstow Desert, and its new temporary parking spot closer to home: IMG_7632_TRIM.MOV
    1 point
  41. Here’s one for ya...
    1 point
  42. This is one I took with my phone last year. I have the mobile Lightroom on my phone and ran it through auto levels. The IPhone tends to not do a great job with white balance.
    1 point
  43. You could probably just spray some WD-40 between the bladders and the airframe. I hear it provides superior corrosion protection and lubrication.
    1 point
  44. How much weight does your long range tank mod add, Jose? I mean several cans of sealer, buna-N topcoat. Additional fuel caps and accces panels and doublers. i actually am of the idea that sealed integral wing tanks are the way to go, but in this specific application I’m not impressed. Most of the fleet has some leak somewhere. Ten grand for a whole strip and reseal yet even those leak after a few years, requiring a 1,000$ trip to the installing shop for warranty work . At some point we should admit that it’s not a “once and done” sure fire fix for chronic Mooney tank leaks. Despite having now the third engine booties onto my plane, I’m very specific to fix something once and forever. Our plane came with 20+ year old bladders because the previous owner spent several grand and 3 attempts to patch the left tank. Everyone here is quick to add the smooth belly mod which adds no performance at all and loses 29lbs, or keep their old KX-170B com2 when they Install whole new IFR GPS kit, but when bladders are involved, oh the humanity over 29lbs. Unacceptable.
    1 point
  45. I wasn't happy about losing 29lbs of useful load, but I've gained 10-15lbs myself since owning the mooney, and the plane isn't giving me the 3rd degree. lol
    1 point
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