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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/30/2019 in Posts

  1. Check the useful load of the planes you are looking at compared to yours and then consider how big the 6 & 7 year old will get and how much fuel you need to make the flights you want to make. I like a Mooney as much as the next guy on here, but if I had a plane with the kinks worked out already that was a known quantity, 4 gph would not convince me to sell it and switch to something else. Now, if you want to switch because a Mooney is way cooler and more fun than a Cessna - welcome to the club. You've found the right place.
    6 points
  2. I just talked with my avionics guy. He's doing my annual this month. Called asking about my AI leaning. Ended up talking me into an Aspen. Not gona tell my wife. I'll wait to see how many flights it takes her to notice. Lol. I asked him point blank how the TT integration is coming. Said he spoke with aspen last week and the heading/barro is working between aspen and TT on their bench. Guessing it will be live by Oshkosh. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
    4 points
  3. Another quick trip to civilization looking forward to a long flight in the near future and will be making some inquiries about our destination. Today's flight was problem free but had some pretty challenging winds at both fields. A couple pics showing the strong marine layer to our west, was about 20 miles in from the coast. Also is a nice picture of Lake Berryessa dam the round circle is the glory hole which is the spillway. It's still flowing a little. A few weeks ago it was really flowing. Most water in California in over a decade.
    4 points
  4. Even my C will walk away from a 182 on 2/3 of the fuel flow . . . . Don't compare useful loads directly. Plan a flight, determine fuel required, add reserves (I like an hour, or 9 gal), then compare how much you can carry for that trip. I think you'll be surprised. I carried hurricane relief supplies, reaching the distribution point after almost 4 hours in the air (with a long, long arrival). I listed 650 lb lift capacity, by far the highest single engine load I saw among the 40+ planes signed up before me. Needless to say I ran out of space before load. My second trip with full tanks was limited to only 470 lb . . . . Having the ability to trade fuel for load is nice! Thanks to our fast, efficient Mooneys. And I was a Cessna pilot before, a whole 62 hours in my logbook at purchase. Very doable. The big deals are: 1) remember the gear; 2) speed control in the pattern, especially on final. Mooneys will slow down OR go down, but not both.
    3 points
  5. The latching system is adjustable and the inside door handle will snap "overcenter" (forward) when properly adjusted. I have sometimes closed the hook some on the latch with some channel lock pliers , to more positively grab the vertical pin. Paul
    3 points
  6. Just wondering if anyone has gone from a early 182 to a m20f or c model, and can tell me what their experience was? I own a 182, typically fly a mix of long cross countries 300+ nm nonstop, or short 100nm hops. The appeal of the same cruise speed at 4gph less appeals to me, two adults and two small children (6&7) is my usual load. On paper these models seem to similar useful as my 182, with close to the same cruise speed but much more efficient. I'm not to particular on o360 vs io360, but leaning towards the IO since I haven't owned a carbureted aircraft before. The four cylinders vs six appeals to me, but I haven't had much issues with mine in 250 hours of owning it, save for one cyl I swapped due 50's comp at annual. I put my 182 on a classifieds post this weekend to see I had any chance to sell after I saw a few nice mooneys under 70k, wish I could just own both. I was surprised to have a few calls already, so it is doable.
    2 points
  7. Probably about the same number of flights with a new paint job That aspen is going to be really nice!
    2 points
  8. Is that Hypnotized or Hippo-tized?
    2 points
  9. A friend here is trying to justify a new Garmin autopilot for his J. I told him that safety sells. She is already worried about him becoming incapacitated in flight. I told him push the safety features of the GFC and he will close the deal in a heartbeat. How do you think I got an STEC 60-2 in 1998?
    2 points
  10. She barely flies with me. We're good. When she notices, I'll be like "oh, that? I've had it for a while" Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
    2 points
  11. Finally, I have a potentially good answer as John-Paul and I have been speaking about data I have been sending him. Basically, after looking at the data, he is sending me a leaner #2 and richer #5, #6 nozzles. My spread has been as wide as 1 gph and he is pretty confident that this swap will get me within .5 gph or lower. Obviously, this should also allow me to run deeper into LOP which should lower my TIT. I still have not done an ignition test up high (but plan to) but John-Paul said it is not necessary from the data he is looking at. I did reset my JPI to record at 1 second intervals, as well. I want to again thank all you guys for weighing in with your thoughts regarding this initial issue. The collective knowledge of this forum is stunning. I am still learning to fly the airplane with the Merlyn (which is a totally different animal than a fixed waste gate) but the JPI is giving me a wealth of information I didn't really have with the JPI 800 (or maybe I just didnt understand it). The non-turbo guys who spoke up here are also appreciated for being willing to try and share their thoughts....turbo's are a completely different animal and have to be flown in a manner not consistent with the N/A engines. I am still tweaking the FF but we are really close....I think another 1/4 turn richer will get me to the "sweet spot" of 25 gph at 37 MAP and drop my CHT's on climb out to well below 380 degrees.
    2 points
  12. Apparently all NFL footballs now contain a chip developed by a 26 year old whiz kid on our field. A smart phone app ( I think) reads the ball internal pressure. Tomorrow as he works on his long eze I will find out if that has an aeronautical tire pressure application. Something tells me he has already considered that. (That’s a lotta footballs)
    2 points
  13. Okay, so I've been putting off repairing the infamous "stuck roof vent" problem that's plagued my C model since the upholstery was redone. It's been stuck in the open position for at least 4 years and I've just been putting it off. Well, I finally decided to take the project so I set aside a full day of wrangling headliners and trim parts and finding the necessary hardware to repair whatever I found to be froze up. I rounded up all the tools I thought I might need, put some music on the stereo, and had a yeti mug full of ice water and started at what was to be a while of sweating in my cockpit. I started by beginning to remove the trim that surrounds the front overhead vents and cockpit lights along with the vent control knob. I removed the 4 small screws that hold it in place and inserted the small allen wrench to remove the vent knob. I decided to just try to move the knob a bit to get to an easy position to loosen the allen nut when, much to my amazement, it rotated freely and the roof vent closed completely. I repeated opening and closing it several times with a stupid grin on my face. As it turned out the back left screw was about 1/8" too long and was engaging the gears of the vent mechanism and had locked it in place. Total hardware needed to repair vent-shorter screw. Time of repair-15 minutes. Sometimes I'd rather be lucky than good. Don
    2 points
  14. Some thought it was because after my playing days, I ballooned up to close to 300 pounds from my playing weight of 235. And this was a way for me to justify being a fat guy. "I wasn't a fatty, these are fatties!". Others believe I am one of those guys who possess the recessive gene that triggers admiration of large rotund ladies. While others, believed it was a tactic used by me to defuse some of the uglier threads this site produced. What's worse? Reading about Little Timmy or being bombarded with pictures of large rotund ladies pictures? You pick...
    2 points
  15. Your upper latch is not catching.
    2 points
  16. I FINALLY was able to fly my bird since I left it in September 2018. Bad Wx, ice-blocked hangar doors, and family blocked me from bringing it to my new home since December. I don’t think the engine has ran since the end of Feb per my A&P. It started easily and it has never ran so smooth as he said the timing was off by a hair (overhauled mags less than a year ago). The prop governor didn’t want to cycle during the run up. It worked fine after I adjusted the RPM’s after leveling off. I think they’re selling this if anyone wants it: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2 points
  17. I just completed a week long 5174 nm journey with my 13 yo daughter. Her spring break started last Friday after school. I flew from Erie, Pa (KERI) to Boston (KBED) to pick her up. From there we stopped in N.C for dinner (KECG) and on to St. Augustine, FL (KSGJ) for the night. The next morning was KSGJ to Providenciales (MBPV) for fuel. We didn’t need to clear customs for just a fuel stop, but they certainly tack on a number of government fees. From there we continued to St. Thomas (TIST). During my planning, I had been working with the FBOs and customs to make sure that I had everything set. As we were preparing to depart to St. Thomas, I gave one more call. It was lucky that I did. They said, you better hurry, customs goes home at 5:45 today. We landed in St. Thomas at 5:38 and had a really quick trip through customs. The FBO at St. Thomas (Standard Aviation) was great. They met us a customs and got us through everything quickly and easily. Things always work a little differently in the islands. From there, we spent 2 nights in St Thomas, which is still recovering from Hurricane Irma. On Monday, we took a ferry to Tortola where we picked up a sailboat for the next five nights. We had a fun captain and enjoyed sailing around the British Virgin Islands. The BVI were also hit very hard by the hurricane. They can certainly use the tourist dollars to help the recovery and support their economy and workers. Saturday morning was a ferry back to St. Thomas to pick up the plane. Saturday morning, the ferry and US Customs in in St. Thomas were running on island time. Getting a little later start than we wanted, we set off from TIST to MBPV again for fuel. ProvoAir at MBPV was very efficient and helpful. Even though you file your flight plan like normal through ForeFlight or your normal routine, the tower at MBPV requires a paper copy. The FBO helped get one faxed over to them and called to verify that got it and we happy. Another thing that I found interesting is that depending on the time of day, clearance delivery, ground, tower, and approach can all be on the same frequency with one controller. Because of the late start, we were not going to be able to make customs at Ft. Pierce before closing time at 6PM. We elected to choose Ft. Lauderdale Executive (KFXE) where customs are open until Midnight daily. After a dinner in Ft Lauderdale, we decided to call it a night and not push on any further. On Easter Sunday we got up and made the trip from KFXE to Charleston, SC (KCHS) for a nice Easter brunch in downtown Charleston. After brunch was the trip back to KBED. I dropped her off with her mother at around 6pm. Since I didn’t have anything scheduled Monday morning, I stayed in Boston Sunday night. On Monday, I woke up and flew back to KERI in time to make if for my surgeries that were scheduled to start at 10AM. It was a great Father-Daughter week. She is a big help with the plane and the logistics. She and I have done international flight to several places in Canada, but this was out first Caribbean adventure on our own. I think this really helps develop her self confidence and sense of adventure. She isn’t afraid to try new things and figure out new situations that require flexibility. I am very fortunate that she and I can do this sort of trip together. The Meridian was great for the trip. I love the speed and altitude. But is certainly doesn’t have the legs of a Mooney. The thirsty PT6 needs to eat every 800nm or about 3 hours. It is almost impossible to take a bad picture with this scenery. Bradb
    2 points
  18. >>I asked him point blank how the TT integration is coming. Said he spoke with aspen last week and the heading/barro is working between aspen and TT on their bench. Guessing it will be live by Oshkosh. Heard this on another forum.. Wondering … looks like they (TT And Aspen ) have stepped on the gas on this project? Nav
    1 point
  19. I was a first time buyer, but I paid a friend who was an IA to fly out there and take a first look at it (I later paid him to ferry it out to OR). If you have any friends who are mechanics, they'd probably enjoy the opportunity. All the buyers stuff I read about online and put together a contract, used an escrow service, and arranged the financing myself, so it's certainly possible as a first time buyer. Of course, if you can pay a buyer's agent to do all that for you, it's a lot less of a headache. SWTA -- Southwest Texas Aviation in Smithville Dugosh -- in Kerrville (where the Mooney factory is) I don't know how they compare distance-wise, but I recall all of them have been used for pre-buys with AAA
    1 point
  20. or maybe he's been hypnotized
    1 point
  21. Get your wallets out boys! And just hand them over to Garmin.
    1 point
  22. I wrote my own from my Owners Manual and printed it out in both sides (using my single-sided printer) from Word, after searching Help and "printing like a pamphlet" or something similar. Booklet printing! That gave me enough blank pages to retype most of the Performance Charts (skipping things below 2300 and above 2600) so I don't have to flip fragile brown pages in every flight. A quick pamphlet stitch down the middle after soft laminating, and it's been working for 12 years. Sorry for the glare, it's still way dark and the wife's still asleep . . . .
    1 point
  23. 1 point
  24. Mine is so tight that I think I could pressurize the cabin.
    1 point
  25. That is an idea, but my day job involves working in a native linux environment. I've gotten used to being antiquated. That's why I fly a 1967 airplane!!!
    1 point
  26. https://mooneyspace.com/topic/5293-lets-talk-lubrication/
    1 point
  27. 1 point
  28. I cannot comment on the upper latch on the C model because I took the vintage hardware out of my airplane. Took the outer skin off my door, and installed the Ovation harware. I have the flat type outer handle and a clothes-pin type latch on the top that pulls the door into the fuselage. Much better arrangement than the hook on the vintage planes. However, I also installed a fixed pin on the door that holds that part of the door against the fuselage. You and every one else should install it. It is easy to install, but you need to take time fitting the hole it latches into in the door frame so it is tight when closed. Call Dan a Lasar and he can get you that part. John Breda
    1 point
  29. My '67C has an upper latch that looks just like yours in that first photo. It has a little hook on the end that grabs a retainer and holds the top of the door in place. I've only owned this a/c for 1-1/2 years, so I don't know its history. The logs don't say anything about the addition of an upper door latch. I cannot imagine the door would seal at all without an upper latch, given that the cabin is slighly pressurized compared to the curved free stream around the cabin.
    1 point
  30. Thanks! I would like to use a seat for this coming Sunday. @Bryan hopefully your plane is done by the weekend and you're flying it home. We're planning to go to Houston on Sunday to see some friends and my wife has told me they're hoping I'll give them a ride in the Mooney. But my back seats are in Denver. If the weather looks good towards the end of the week, I'll reach out and swing by BAZ. Thanks @JRam and @Bryan.
    1 point
  31. I would dimple them, but then again it might just be an excuse to buy the dimples dies
    1 point
  32. here is the applicable cost comparison for today's avionics Not only is the IFD540 easier to use, the IFD540 provides a better value. Avidyne IFD540 Garmin GTN750 Fully-Featured Price $15,999 $28,044* 3D Exocentric Synthetic Vision Included Not Available Bluetooth Hardware Included Only available with external Flightstream. Add $549 WiFi Hardware Included Only available with Flightstream 510 Add $1,499 Bluetooth Keyboard Included Not Available IFD100 App/Controller Included Not Available Forward Looking Terrain Alerting – (FLTA) Included Only available with TAWS Upgrade. Add $7,995 Required Terrain Clearance Alerting – (RTC) Included Only available with TAWS Upgrade. Install Kit + Tray Included Included SD Card N/A Add $555 Color Terrain Awareness Included Included Jeppesen Charts - Unlock Included Add $1,995 Suggested List Price $15,999 $16,000
    1 point
  33. Hi all. My plane has been in the shop for the annual and CiES senders and I have been working my tail off, so have not been here much. %HP when LOP is fuel flow in GPH x 13.7 divided by rated HP (210 for the 231). Everyone should know that by now. The JPI uses that formula when LOP, or at least that is the way it appears to me. I saw some posts wondering how you know you are actually LOP. Using the JPI’s you can’t start on the rich side, pull everything over to the LOP side, and expect to have a good “degrees lean of peak” reading because in the 231 too many things are moving around. In the aircraft that control MP so it is constant when fuel flow is reduced that is possible, but in the 231 a change to MP changes fuel flow and vice versa, so by the time you get from the ROP side to the LOP side everything has changed and the peak reading you got is no longer valid. The one way to do it and get a decent number is to get the engine running on the LOP side for sure, say 10 GPH and 32-34”, and then use the JPI in Rich of Peak leaning mode to enrich to peak and back. Rich of Peak mode does not actually know whether you are rich or lean of peak. It is JPI’s way of determining peak by measuring the first cylinder to peak, and if you are already on the lean side and enriching back to peak, that is what you want. Then when you lean back again, you are measuring degrees from peak by the cylinder that is closest to peak, making sure all the rest are further away. This is still not perfect, because as I said, when you make a change to fuel flow or MP in the 231, it changes other things. But it is reasonably accurate. Once you are confident you know what a good LOP setting is, then just use MP and FF to make it again the next time, its simpler.
    1 point
  34. Just the opposite. GA would be just fine without Garmin, someone else would have filled the void. With everyone having a portable GPS on their phone and the portable Car GPS business non-existent, I can’t imagine where Garmin would be without General Aviation.
    1 point
  35. Completed SkyBeacon installation and passed validation flight on the Mooney Rocket. When we configured the SB from the iPhone, the transponder sqwak code would not show up no matter threshold. uAvionics support said ignore, set to 34% and go do validation flight. It passed. So this could be an issue with the app, but the bottom line is it works. See pic attached the wingtip lens slot we cut leaves a small gap behind the SB antenna which will be covered with a piece of plexiglas using the available screw hole and nutplate + caulk around antenna. Total cost: SkyBeacon $1,849 4 hours @ $85 = $340 (he's a bit slow) Minus: $500 FAA rebate TOTAL $1,689
    1 point
  36. Not so much hate, some like the feeling of not having to bend over
    1 point
  37. This is actually a valid point. Love em or hate em, Garmin is the only stable player in the GA world.
    1 point
  38. Before he died, Gordon Baxter had a great story about this concept. When he was interviewing Al Mooney in preparation for writing The Al Mooney Story, Al sketched the tail of the M18 and M20 at high angles of attack. The important concept wasn't so much the leading edge of the stabilizer, but the swept forward hinge line of the control surface. As Skip described, the swept tail is largely wasted because what's important is the perpendicular component of the relative wind. Gordon said that Al sketched something like this:
    1 point
  39. Until purchasing my Mooney almost all my flying was in twins. I learned to fly in a AC560 and moved onto a C320. Twins are very safe if you move slow and methodically. When things go bad most NTSB reports in general aviation tend to relate to a bad decision even with good training (that is looking very much to be the case in the recent Atlas loss). People rush to feather, pull mixtures, etc. which you see even during training. A windmilling prop isn’t that much drag put people tend to really focus on that and pulling the gear up. You just have to be very slow and methodical and you are ok. You rush and you end up like the China Airlines ATR. I have no idea what happened in this incident but twins are safe and training on systems is rarely the issue. It is training on being logical and calm in an emergency, it is all about EQ and not IQ. I have never had an issue of losing an engine in a twin in almost 2000hrs so who knows. I have though lost 2 cylinders in a Mooney on two separate occasions including one in IMC. In both cases still here to talk about not because I flew a perfect ILS (it was a full forward slip rocket ship to hit DH) with an engine chewing itself apart but because I just focused on being rational.
    1 point
  40. That's just it , that E turns into a Forever plane after you dump 60 into the panel. My airplane addiction is terrible.
    1 point
  41. I had my prop balance checked based on a recommendation from my shop at annual. ("I don't like the way your baffling is accumulating cracks. I suspect there's more vibration than there ought to be. You should have your prop balanced.") Local prop guy tried to balance, looked at the numbers and told me they were bad enough that he didn't feel comfortable whacking weight on it and I should really take it to the local dedicated prop shop and have them statically balance it. Charged me hardly anything for his time. I took it to the local prop shop (Propellers NW) and they took a look at it and informed me they couldn't get it to balance either, needed to look at it closer and made sure I was all in on pulling the prop and statically balancing if necessary. A few days later they called me back and informed me they had discovered whoever had last installed the prop (before my time as owner, no idea who, when, or how long ago) hadn't torqued it down properly and I was lucky it hadn't separated. (EEEP! I'd been flying it like that for 120 hours.) They checked all the studs, inspected the flange for damage, mic'd the holes, told me that my regular shop should double check it against Continental's specs, statically balanced it and then dynamically balanced it to something reasonable (0.1 IPS or a little less.) It's since been through annual and had a second flange/crank inspection and been signed off as airworthy. Whole thing cost me a few weeks' downtime, a couple long drives, and about $800. The funny part is that even spectacularly out of balance I never really suspected anything was THAT wrong since it still felt smoother than the J models I'd flown. Now? Sewing machine. Baffles will probably last a lot longer. Mostly I'm glad I listened to my mechanic and it got addressed before I got dead. May your balance be less eventful than mine.
    1 point
  42. Sept 99... just make sure they aren’t the old style pucks.... or it might be June 66... Something I learned from Hank... -a-
    1 point
  43. There is an answer to this fine question... It comes from the study of Rheology.... The study of flow... and the effects of viscosity.... More the Engineering of Grease Fittings, than the science... The grease nipple is nothing but a seal that allows grease to come in, and not come back out... Procedures, and grease chemistry, does the rest... It is important to grease things annually... if it has been a decade since a plane got greased... the shelf life of the grease could cause problems with changes of viscosity... Problems occur when old stuff solidifies... its viscosity has increased. The new lower viscosity grease coming in, May tunnel through the old stuff and show up quickly at the other end... Tunneling is noticeable to some people that have done the job before... their observation would be something like .... Ooh, that was too quick.... (or... hey, that’s my clean shirt!) Another part of the greasing procedure is an observation of the grease coming out clean... as in tunneling includes bits and pieces of the old crap continuing to show up... If it keeps coming out, not clean... a decision gets made... keep flushing, or disassemble and clean. As an engineer... you can calculate the volume of the space and compare to the volume of each pump... Observe how many pumps it takes for clean fresh material to come out... Two ways to set an expectation, and confirm with an observation... Fortunately our grease system in the landing gear is pretty stable. It doesn’t change viscosity that much each year... the volume isn’t that much, so it gets completely flushed each time... Where we run into challenges is the trim system... the grease can be decades old inside the gear box, it doesn’t flush completely out because of the flow challenges of a gear box.... and on the threaded screws themselves... open to the air leads to the grease drying out and solidifying.... A rheology professor I once listened to explained pushing a high viscosity material out with a low viscosity material... it’s like having the runs, but the old stuff is blocking up the system, still... that can be a pain in the butt. Could have been a biology teacher explaining fluid flow.... one or the other... In the end, it requires us to use the right materials and follow the right procedures to be fine... Somebody has thought this through already... and that’s what makes the experimental aviation world such a challenge... soo many details that may go unnoticed when you are the first to do something in a different way. PP thoughts only, not a rheologist, biologist, or experimental plane builder yet... how was that? Best regards, -a-
    1 point
  44. Wet, wet, wet, yep finally got my IR wet today climbing out of Troutdale enroute to Sunriver. I could of flown the gorge to The Dalles all VFR. But what’s the joy in seeing where you’re going??? It wasn’t a lot of IMC. Bases at 4,100 tops 6,300 on climb out. So almost got 5 minutes, that’s good for five tents right??? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  45. I see $99 case AS W100. I have to drive across town, but I think I pay $78/case I also happen to live in the energy capital of the world.
    1 point
  46. I dunno. I may be getting my haircut that Friday. Can you move it back one more week?
    1 point
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