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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/06/2019 in all areas

  1. My hangar elf designed and installed a system on my plane which sounds a piezo alarm when the limits are reached. But better yet, it trips a relay with a light and substantially quieter alarm in the cabin. So if I am traveling somewhere and a lineman exceeds (or reaches) the limit, when I come back and open the door, the alarm will alert me to crawl down and check. It is a real pain to install and calibrate, and I keep it set so sensitive that many people with activate it without causing any damage. But I prefer to have to check often, rather than the alternative.
    5 points
  2. Here is the M20K Oxygen section from the IPC. Your mechanics explanation makes no sense to me. I'd like to hear the opinion of one of our resident A&P's. The whole system is built out of Swagelok connectors and Scott components at the Mooney factory. I doubt you could snake the tube through the fuselage with the connectors on anyway, they have to be installed in the field. I'd still like to know what the defect is that he feels warrents replacing the tube. Did it chafe against something and rub through? M20K_oxygen.pdf
    3 points
  3. All our great stuff isn’t a cure for a mental error, I recently was going into a Class Bravo airport forecast vfr, atis was vfr, Approach control said direct blah blah landing 15L, great easy peasy, entered the clouds, given quickly direct xxx ILS 15l, not ready Dan being a dumb ass threw the loc frequency for 15R, there were a bunch of approaches, oh did I say I’m a dumb ass, controller says your right of course can I make it back to localizer, sure it looks great to dumb ass, at about 800 breaking out I notice 15L way over there oops, landed no problem...I fully expected hey Dan ahh contact the tower on phone, luckily no further issues other than embarrassment which could have been a major problem. Air carriers were landing 15R so I was real lucky, Stay focused especially with our state of the art equipment
    2 points
  4. I like to keep my Aspen PFD decluttered. I figure the IFD 540 GPS right next to it in the panel is a much better place for Traffic, Weather, Synthetic Vision, etc. Now if I had an MFD like @Marauder I'd use that for the extra clutter.
    2 points
  5. It's actually pretty easy. One way is with your nose wheel turned all the way to the stop, get down and feel where the tubes are touching. That's the spot and it will be more likely on the tube attached to the wheel rather than the tube attached to the airframe. Another way is with the wheel straight ahead, get down and feel the back and inside of the nose truss assembly. You'll feel a gap between the tubes that is just about as wide as a finger. You can feel both tubes with the same finger. If there's damage, you'll feel an obvious dent in that tube. It's easier to feel it than to see it or take a picture of it. One other note, my cowl flap hides the tow limits mark, so I always have my cowl flap retracted when on the ground. This way the tow limit marks are easily seen. Laura at SWTA keeps some bright red fingernail polish in her tool box just for painting on the tow limit marks every time a Mooney is in for annual in their shop. Every little bit helps...
    2 points
  6. You run into so many frustrations keeping your plane going. IMO, it's worth paying more for reliability. How many of us have wasted time chasing our tails on something in our planes?
    2 points
  7. Automotive fuel pumps generate a lot more pressure than the IO-360 fuel injection needs. Typical auto fuel injection systems are anywhere from 40-80psi, and are the only pump that supplies pressure. There is no engine-driven pump on most cars, (the newer direct-injection systems are an exception as they require *much* higher pressures). The system pressure on my airplane (IO-360) seems to run around 22psi or so. Automotive pumps flow a lot more, too, when they're feeding something making 300-500hp as compared to 200hp or so. On the other hand, most auto pumps are the sole pump rather than boost pumps, so they don't have to be have pull-through capability so that a mechanical pump can draw through them. But I am generally in agreement that the technology in most airplanes has been progress-inhibited by excessive qualification standards and a smaller market. Both forces have conspired to keep much of GA at a technology reliability level that was state-of-the-art 30+ years ago. We don't get the benefits of many modern advancements that would likely improve both costs and reliability.
    2 points
  8. I have to admit to being some what paranoid about this. Any time some one moves my plane, I check afterwards.
    2 points
  9. It can still be damaged, the line person just has to work harder at it....
    2 points
  10. @carusoam @rbridges Forgive the poor production quality. This was a quick one take done with my iPhone. note the flap indicator on the wheel well. My first pump puts flaps at the top of the takeoff position.
    2 points
  11. Search for swagelock snoop... it is a leak finding, bubble making solution.... If you have an O2 leak... this is how it gets found... Fixing the leak depends on what is not working... Best regards, -a-
    2 points
  12. I flew over to Bartow today to try out their newly re-opened restaurant, Runways at Bartow. The restaurant has been remodeled since the prior restaurant (Nini’s Landings) relocated elsewhere. There are tables, booths and even an elevated eating area inside. I was greeted promptly and told I could sit wherever I wanted. The hostess went with me to my table with menu and utensils in hand. She asked me what I wanted to drink and went to get my drink while I read the menu. She brought my sweet tea (very good sweet tea) and took my order. In deference to the fly-in community, I selected the plain hamburger and fries. After all, how could I give a $100 hamburger PIREP without ordering a burger?! The restaurant was busy, mostly with locals, which was a good sign to me. My food came without any big delay and...get this...the food was actually HOT...delivered fresh, without the seemingly obligatory “let it sit and cool off” period that seems prevalent at other locations. The burger was cooked the way I asked, medium well. It and the fries were both tasty. I would tell you that I cleaned my plate but, it came on a wooden serving board so...I cleaned my board. Another thing that really set the service apart was that my beverage glass never got close to being empty. This is one of my pet peeves about eating out in general. I can’t stand running out of a beverage and not having something to drink while I’m eating. If I eat at home, my glass is never empty so I get annoyed at inattentive restaurants when they don’t keep me “tanked up”. This crew was really on top of things. Servers who weren’t even my server were asking me if I wanted my sweet tea topped off (they said refreshed). I had to keep telling them “no thanks, I’m good”. I had downed two glasses already and was concerned about bladder control on the return trip. What a great experience! I honestly do not believe that I have EVER received better food AND service at any Airport Restaurant in my life. Kidding the Line Crew when I walked back to the plane, I told him “you’re going to need to hire more help”. He looked at me and I said “when the word gets out about that restaurant, you’re going to get busy”. He laughed and said that he has eaten there twice and both times it was delicious. I would encourage you to give it a try.
    2 points
  13. Good habits with setting up the altitude for the missed. But why setting up for the direct to the MAP? We still have to fly to Missed approach point before commencing the missed approach to the missed approach fix - which is rarely direct anyway. The TERPS obstacle protection is lost if we turn before getting to the missed also. Soon as we do get to the missed approach point, then simply activate the missed (unsuspend) the GPS then sequences us through the missed approach procedure leg by leg. There are some rare procedures too where it may be necessary to descend on the missed because of max crossing altitude restrictions. (One in my neighborhood has caused many pilot deviations). One nice feature of the current GTNs is that these IFR altitudes are in the GTN and displayed on the G500 to use. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2 points
  14. Send it to dawley, that's who rocket said might still have the jigs http://www.dawleyaviation.com
    1 point
  15. what setup do you have? I believe '68 was the year they went away from generator. Alternator/Generator ( I assumed a Alternator) Prestolite/Motorola/InterAv ???? and what Voltage regulator do you have they can change over time. Delco Remy/ Plane Power/ Zeftronics / ???? Though you may not have Plane Power setup ... a lot of the concepts apply in diagnostic troubleshooting steps. Also if you have original wiring I would look closely to wire end terminations over time the fail this may explain some of the symptoms of what you are seeing. It probably hasn't become a hard fail yet. https://planepower.aero/aircraft-alternator-support/troubleshooting/ Hope This helps or at least points you in the right direction. James '67C
    1 point
  16. I would bet on interference or jamming but at look at the satellite page would show if you just don't have an unobstructed view of the sky or your not getting any signal at all. Here is the article about military testing that is expected to shutdown GPS for many in the south east (but I assume to far south to effect KLNS) starting today: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2019/february/05/gps-adsb-may-be-unavailable-in-southeast-during-interference-tests?fbclid=IwAR3bg-geSQOBNKqeASez_KrrsAfddnUZQ-iZj62elkkMCNKNWfd3VtSgy0Y
    1 point
  17. it can be sent out for overhaul, but you may want to consider the possibility of doing an upgrade. Brian
    1 point
  18. KLNS ARTCC notams are callng out GPS testing - sounds like they are aware of something
    1 point
  19. I think whether you climb or descend depends on the situation. Climbing when you are picking up icing up high probably won’t work if your plane’s climb ability has turned into the same as a Mack truck. If you didn’t pick up ice until you reached a higher altitude, descending may make more sense. You may want to climb higher if you know the tops are reachable and the rate of accumulation is low. Reaching clear air will allow sublimation to do it’s thing. The most scary is SLD. The most eye opener thing I ever saw was a twin come into my airport in NY covered with ice. He was at full power, no flaps and pancaked landed. I never saw someone as scared as that young freight dog. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    1 point
  20. I don't have a picture, but if you will take your tow bar and turn the nose wheel while laying on the ground next to it, it is easy to see where the two tubes bump.
    1 point
  21. You need to add the MFD. [emoji23] I also noticed you have everything turned on. The little bar on the lower left shows the level of “declutter” that is on. You can play with turning things off it as another suggested, run in arc mode. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    1 point
  22. I was having an intermittent over voltage issue a few years ago. Every once in a while my voltage would jump from 14v to 18v and even as high as 24v at times. When it jumped it would go from being steady to jumping all over the place. After months of troubleshooting, I found a small loose unused hot wire under the panel that was shorting on the control column. After removing that wire, I had no more issues.
    1 point
  23. I suffer from the same thing - when the OAT drops to around -25, the heater struggles to keep up, and at -35 no amount of sunlight keeps the cabin warm enough for comfort without a thick jacket. Side windows frosting up on the inside is common, and cold feet is another issue. It's even worse in the back seats Somewhere a while back I asked if anyone had a good solution - none were forthcoming Maybe easier to investigate on your side of the Atlantic with the availability of DERs etc - I was thinking it *might* be possible to mount a heatsink type device on the firewall that takes the cooling function of the oil cooler and instead passes the *heat* through to a corresponding heatsink inside the cabin (my understanding is that passing an oil flow through the firewall will be absolutely denied). Thing is, I don't know how much cooling the oil cooler is doing in the cruise at those sort of OATs. If it were possible to have the intercooler inside the cabin there's probably a load of heat there, but again I doubt this will be possible due to it largely circumventing the point of the firewall! The Acclaims use a sonic nozzle to take bleed air from between the turbo an intercooler - it might be possible to replicate on a Bravo, but I imagine the approval will be horrendous - in essence this is robbing the turbo of output, so I would expect all the PoH figures will have to be re-done, the critical altitude will be reduced (and it might not be possible at all without a different turbo) - probably just too difficult and expensive
    1 point
  24. Eric- had no idea- thanks! I've hated working on cars ever since they got more complicated than my old 1967 VW Karmann Ghia.
    1 point
  25. They must be getting close as the flight manual supplement for the M20M/M20R/M20S is now available on Garmin's site: https://support.garmin.com/support/manuals/manuals.htm?partNo=GFC-500AP-00&language=en&country=US
    1 point
  26. A year and a half later I realized I had not posted the final answer. It is indeed a Swagelok compression fitting. Some prior mechanic had over-tightened the fitting bottoming out the nut, crushing the ferrule inside. You can see this in the pic. There should be a space between the nut and fitting. Swagelok sells a gauge to test for this. The Swagelok fitting was replaced, less than $10 parts cost.
    1 point
  27. Snoop is sold on Amazon. You can get a small squeeze bottle of it for $8. Back in the day, you could only get Snoop from a scientific supply house. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
    1 point
  28. Breaker could be old. random popping is usually loose or corroded wires. rebuild the wiring harness to the alternator. Could also be worn brushes jumping around on the stator. Just because wire goes into a lug don't mean it is making good contact.
    1 point
  29. You all are amazing! This really helps! Thank you! Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
    1 point
  30. Starting with how old is the relay that keeps popping? Is it Original equipment? These things are mechanical devices that have a tendency to wear over time. They are sensitive to temperature, and get more sensitive over time... Do you have a JPI or a method to collect voltage data while this event is occurring? What are the choices....? 1) high current... a result of a short... look for frayed wires... 2) high voltage... a result of over charging... a VR problem... easy to see with a volt meter/JPI.... 3) worn out CB switch... if neither a high current or high voltage problem actually exists... PP thoughts only. Check with a mechanic for better details... Best regards, -a-
    1 point
  31. Finalized the cowling design and finish work going on right now on the prototype. Once the prototype is complete, we’ll make the molds and make the first parts. It’s coming along slowly and steadily now. David
    1 point
  32. Check the salvage places Wentworth, Arizona Aircraft Salvage, etc G1000 airplanes get wrecked and these guys buy the salvage
    1 point
  33. The only difference between the two mags is starting lag time. One has lag of 25 and one has 20. This is to account for 25 and 20 degree running timing, respectively. When you are starting the engine, the rpm is very very low, so the timing is retarded to 0 BTDC in order to avoid potential kick back situations. If you run 20 degree timing, then it is possible to use either mag safely. (+5-0 A/BTDC lag). however, if you try and use the a 4345 mag with 25 BTDC timing, then you could run a higher risk of kick back when starting because the starting lag time will be 5 BTDC. The only difference between those two mags are the internal lag timing and the data plate on the mag itself. Just go with 25 BTDC and the 4347 and you will be happy. Don't waist your money and time messing around listening to others like I did. corrected
    1 point
  34. Ms Knight performed an outstanding rendition of our National Anthem Sunday evening. It was the best part of the Superbowl, the flight of F-16's timed their fly over perfectly. It was nice that the LA Rams didn't have to make that decision to visit the White House after all .
    1 point
  35. That's for the lucky bastards who have turbocharged motors While we're on the topic of flying in rain, VFR in rain with good visibility is actually the only time I've experienced ice. Two months ago, I was vfr at 1C OAT when I blundered into an unforecast patch of light rain at 3000ft. I was under a 4000ft cloud deck that coincided with the freezing level and guided my decision to go vfr. There was a widespread icing Airmet to the surface. Oh, and it was at nightfall so I never knew visually if the bit of light green appearing on my ads-b display ahead was going to be real precip or not. I needed to get to Boston after work for a meeting the next day, and flying in IMC a fair amount the previous summer had made me less afraid of the dark. It was stupid not to take the train. Going up, down, or sideways when picking up ice in rain at near freezing temps seems like a situation-specific and aircraft systems-dependent decision. I'm pretty sure climbing would have done nothing good in my situation. I deviated right to get out of the rain and also avoid terrain while I descended to 2000 to get in warmer air. The descent also let me duck under the NYC Bravo and put me on a heading to Morristown NJ where I planned to land. By the time I got close to that delta, almost all the ice had shed and there was no more precip showing up on ADS-b, so I flew uneventfully to Boston instead. In retrospect it was never that much ice - I saw no obvious degradation in performance and heard no vibration from the prop. Forward visibility through the windscreen was impaired briefly but cleared immediately in warmer air. But having had no experience with ice, it was utterly terrifying, and fear could have easily made me do something stupid that I would never do when calm.
    1 point
  36. I seen where he made some very nice seat adjustment cams in the past. The end result was impressive. I’ll likely make my own when time comes and I thought others might be able to benefit from it as well.
    1 point
  37. I think all attitude-source AP's are generally going to respond better in turbulence than rate-based AP's. The KFC150 I had in my 231 was really good in turbulence, and was comfortable to fly behind. My Cherokee 180 with the rate-based Century 1 was a mess in turbulence. It kept the shiny side up, but wasn't responsive and comfortable enough. I should have a pirep for the GFC500 next month, I'm willing to bet that the digital control and new servos will be pretty good.
    1 point
  38. I need a rain that's going up. The belly is what needs washed the worst.
    1 point
  39. It's so cold up here this week... My AME has his hands in how own pockets.
    1 point
  40. Nope, I've never noticed an issue with water coming through the vents. And here in Texas, they're always open.
    1 point
  41. Tonight marks the 2nd anniversary from my little run in with Carbon Monoxide. Right now I would be getting loaded into the medevac helicopter. Despite having a bad cold right now I can say I'm enjoying the evening much, much more than two years ago. I'm very happy with the response from pilots over the past 2 years. A lot more airplanes have CO detectors now. But we did lose 4 people to Carbon Monoxide in a Cherokee in Iowa a few months ago. I would bet 95% of everyone who reads this post already has a CO monitor, but I ask that you all pester your pilot friends and hanger neighbors to get one. The discounts are still in effect. 20% www.sensorcon.com code: aircraft2017 20% www.guardian.com code: coaware Cheers, Dan
    1 point
  42. I want to go back to college..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  43. I had a similar experience Friday. I took my Son in Law to an airport with a short runway where a Flight Surgeon does fly in flight physicals. I was worried about it being short although it was plenty long at 3300. I flew a practice approach so I had a nice straight in final. There was a plane in the run up box on the opposite end of the runway waiting for us. I was paying close attention. Put it on the very end of the runway and rolled out considerably short of the midfield turn off. I guess my 6000’ home runway hasn’t spoiled me as bad as I thought. BTW my SIL was on the ball. He wasn’t due his flight physical, but got it done because he turns 40 next week, so he’s good for five years.
    1 point
  44. I had some former work friends in town on their way to Vegas for company meetings. After a proper BBQ meal Saturday night, I suggested we might go see the Texas countryside on Sunday... All of them being from overseas, two from Dubai, one from Johannesburg, and one from Amsterdam, they do a lot of flying, but never get to ride up front. @bucko, @"Chocks", Doc, and myself met up for some formation work over Canyon Lake, TX. And my friends each got a right seat to watch the action.
    1 point
  45. You can decide to go missed anytime before and start climbing if there are no altitude restrictions, but you can not start navigating to the missed until you get to the missed approach point and follow it as published or alternate instructions you were given when cleared or by tower - or - get cleared to do so early. Turning off early can not only expose you to a CFIT but also get you deviated for a loss of IFR separation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  46. To each their own. That's why there isn't just one aircraft manufacturer, one avionics manufacturer, one... My KFC200 would S turn on short final. Do I want to keep sending it in for adjustment? Do I want to keep repairing it or replace it with a new more reliable system? We each have our own opinions and priorities and get to make our own choices. For those that find the GPS requirement unacceptable they can choose BK, Dynon, TT, Trio, STEC, others? Each of those has their limitations. In my opinion, it's not a deal breaker. For me, lack of electric trim is. $2000+ repair costs on servos is. Thus my choice. If it's that important to you, buy the GFC600.
    1 point
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