Leaderboard

I'm headed to Montana in July for TAC (Total Archery Challenge). A few of the "group" (about 30 of us), decided we needed to do a meet and greet. Since the acreage we were setting the archery course up at was a 3 hour drive, I chose to fly two buddies instead. 35 Minute trip one way. Here's the interesting part. Vince is 6'5" 320 lbs. Jason is 5'11" 226 lbs. Watching these two (no offense to any other Mooniacs on here of this stature) fat bastards get into my F was almost comical. Really wish I had a camera rolling. Just got me to thinking, what's the largest person any of you have put in your plane, and do you have any other suggestions to make this easier? Good news is, the three guys I"m taking with me in July are typically mistaken for fenceposts. All under 170, and lanky. My takeaways from my first transport flight experience: 1- Ask for weights of passengers WELL before flying. I ended up draining 22 Gallons of fuel out, into J-Cans on Friday night just to get within limits of UL. 2- Hand out headsets AFTER passengers have boarded / settled in. Vince managed to sit on my set of Bose QC25 / uFlyMike set in the back seat. Ripped the mic off, and one of the ear cushions. I"ll PIREP the uFlyMike and headset and tell you that they're durable, but a little tedious in getting the foam back into place. 3- As seen by the photo, I chose to bring "Light beer" for the passengers. You can never be too safe when it comes to weight. 4- As I've typically done solo flights, and maybe with an instructor/ one passenger, I learned that you need to watch what you say. The Phrases of "oh $hit!", or "F%%K!", were quickly responded by "OMG WHAT???" from partially inexperienced Mooney individuals. In reality, it was me not setting a timer, or plugging in my ipad, and that was my way AHA! moment, and my response. (Note: In Jason's defense, he did survive a float plane flipping over on its' wings last fall, while on a sheep hunt in Northern BC, so I have to understand a slight bit of "long tail cat in a rocking chair store" mentality).

Cliffy, you post the pics... I’ll straighten them out. Best regards, -a-

MooneyMax 2019 is over and for those who missed it you missed a great time. Don, his wife, Paul and others went all out to show all of us a grand time. Everyone learned something and everyone had a great time. The closing night dinner was as good as it gets.

He just purchased it in 2017, so Camguard will say damage was done before then. Tom

That is the norm up here, unless you’re a Toronto Maple Leafs and th other person is a Canadiens de Montréal fan...

No FBO ever adds oil to my plane. Sometimes I will buy a quart, but I add some or all of it myself. Often half a quart.

never a bad idea to change an O-ring but honestly, if you had to use pliers, it is because it was tightened too much. There is no reason to tighten the dipstick.

Haven't heard that it is unhealthy but I have heard that a lot of Bravo owners can't get their Bravo to fly smoothly LOP. No personal experience but I've heard it many times. -K

Mike Busch, Bob Kromer and Bob Minnis were there for the two days of presentations. Great information. They shared a lot of expert knowledge about Mooneys, engines and their maintenance that you could not get anywhere else.

Thanks for all the advice. As of now my business partner and I have narrowed it down to a fully equipped 252 and a Bravo. Going to look at both this week. Will report back. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

My Wife and I have found over the years that camping at the Hampton Inn works well for us.

Isn't liability generally cited as a driving reason for charging exorbitant fees in Aviation? If the shop isn't willing to shoulder the liability then what exactly did the OP get for the ridiculous OH cost? Either incorrect parts were used or another failure mode is present. Either way, this looks as if the responsibility should be the burden of the overhaul shop. The fact that we're discussing this says this is likely not a very good shop. It's too bad that people sometimes seem to get skewered for calling shops out for this kind of poor work and even poorer customer service. If they are indeed a MSC... this is a Mooney group and they should be rightly called out. Lastly, the OP should make sure to purchase an extremely nice bottle of spirits to give to his mechanic for finding this mess. This mechanic could have saved his and other lives. I don't even know the mechanic... but am thankful that he did his job and found this.

This falls under the same ideology of your suitcase weighing too much, and moving 10 lbs to your carry on, and that’s okay.

Not in Texas with our 4000 percent humidity more of a New Mexico Arizona thang.

You may develop a group of jealous friends and a perma-grin leading to excessive laughing and insomnia over the fact that you own an F-ing awesome plane (see what I did there?). You have been warned. Good luck!

Absolutely not. Things like 2 inch thick walls. Usually I keep it in the back seat and I keep food, drinks, snacks, and I carry a charcoal grill. I use 2lb ice packs that usually fit in the small hotel freezers but ice works in a pinch. I don't remember what size mine is, not the smallest but 2nd smallest I think, it fit great in the back seat of the k models.

Clarence helps everyone! Such a classy role model for the rest of us . . . . .

Welcome aboard light chop... There are many things that you can look to for guidance... Are you able to use the search function for MooneySpace? There is multiple suggestions on who and where... and there is the 100 hour inspection checklist... the topic to search for is called the pre-purchase inspection... or PPI. Then there is the minimalist approach... compressions, tanks, corrosion, and donuts... Don’t go minimalist.... that can be expensive... PP thoughts only, not a mechanic... Best regards, -a-

Keep it up! Miracles have been known to occur.

There are 3 of us at my field with the original factory single rear window on our F's. This was not a J thing, the single window was introduced in the F. -Robert

That may have something to do with it. I was in a friends ovation on Saturday and it was in the same location in the back of the baggage compartment.

The dipstick will get tighter when the engine runs. I snug mine down gently, and have no trouble opening it; if I crank it closed, it's very difficult to open.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/lycominggaskets_08-00307.php

Busch and Kromer go without saying-facinating to listen to. Bob Minnis? WOW! If you ever get a chance like I did to talk with him one on one its an eye opener. Power plant development is his forte. What he has done and seen in his career (if you're an engine geek like me) is unbelievable. 1 interesting item- Do you really think that the liquid cooled engine that powered the round the world Voyager was only developed for that application? What it took to develop the turbo systems in our Mooneys is a full book in itself. If you missed the show you lost out on a very educational and fun event. I have to make another comment about the closing dinner- I've done a bunch of rubber chicken dinners in my career but the food that was served that final night was, again, as good as it gets even in specialty restaurants. Very impressive to say the least. I heard fantastic comments that ranged from the salad dressing to the deserts. Y'all missed out on a gastronomic event for a gathering like this. It really was that good.

Interesting. i do not run my plane LOP. so that is all new to me.. but i fly pretty consistently at 29/2400 and my tit is higher around 1650 and then i get a range of 390-435 and 19.5 +/- but since i don't like anything over 400 i can bring it down with fuel or Cowl flaps. I was always under the impression that LOP was not healthy for the bravo lyc engine Peter

Rumor is bob you stayed at a holiday inn last night

I use an rtic soft side for travelling. It's good for 2 or 3 days with ice packs

If it is only 2 of you take the rear seat back out give your a lot more room and bring a 24 qt hard sided ice chest that fits in the baggage door. That is what I do for SnF.

Yes, Rich and Anthony nailed the issue being #1 misfire. The LOP Mag test wasn't done long enough nor lean enough to show the problem. Its needs to be a minimum or 10 data points or 30 sec and should be leaned to 50F LOP providing the engine will still run smoothly but with a problem like that, it will likely get rough due to premature misfire. Your data showed #1 didn't start misfiring the first time till ~40F LOP. Once it starts though it harder to get it to stop since the plug is burning much dirtier which is why in subsequent spreads you'll see the misfire begin much earlier as it does at 0:32. The LOP Mag check wasn't informative. It was done at about 20+F LOP, try to target for 50 LOP if you can or just before the first sign of roughness and for a full 30 sec. (I see 4 humps fom isolating a mag, but only one was long enough.) See this for further help on how to perform the spreads and LOP mag test http://content.savvyanalysis.com/static/pdf/SavvyAnalysisFlightTestProfiles.pdf Remember it takes both a good spread of <= 0.5 and a healthy ignition system. #1 plug (most likely bottom) probably just needs some cleaning, but also make sure they are all gapped evenly. FWIW I measured spreads of 0.5, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.8 GPH -- not seeing 0.3 in this flight data so maybe John-Paul was looking at different data.

I have not been checking for cloud residue on the wings. I’ll need to add that to the check list that I keep on the glare shield.

When I spoke to the FlameMaster tech rep he was adamant about never applying their 3600 protective coating over anything but a freshly sealed tank- once the sealant and /or the 3600 coating (same as PR-1005-L) is contaminated with fuel, there will be adhesion issues.

Love the Cirrus pre-flight video. I also love my Bravo (FIKI) for value and capability. I highly recommend it. Ovations are nice if you don’t need a turbo, but the factory pre- 2006-7 G-1000s are a no go for me. The Acclaims are outstanding but at least double the price of a Bravo. The better newer turbo FIKI Cirrus and Mooney Ultras are 3-4 times the cost. The older Malibus can be expensive to maintain. Pressurization is nice for passengers, but I don’t personally mind wearing a cannula or mask. Bonanzas are a great flying airplane with good room, some Aft CG issues, but few are available with TKS and anecdotally seem to me be maintenance hogs. Lancair can’t be beat for speed and efficiency. Very few have TKS or thermal deice if that’s important. My dream would be a TBM or Pilatus, but that isn’t gonna happen for most of us.

Sorry about your cam! Tough sell to keep investing in a vac system when there are relatively cheap paths to removing it entirely now and have minimal maintenance costs. Definitely yes on relatively low cost items that wear out and are much easier to swap when the engine is out: e.g. engine mounts, throttle/prop/mixture cables.

+1 for Reno. I go every year and we get Box seats, B50. I have been to a lot of air shows and I crew for a private jet team. Watching pylon racing is my favorite, 50ft of the deck and wing tip to wing tip, 400mph for sport, 500mph for unlimited and Jet is 520mph. It’s the most amazing thing to watch and you can feel the speed. It’s a must to get pit passes, you can talk with the pilots and crew. Jim

Beyond the question of remaining torque on the bolts, there is the question of where the pins may have been enroute to the finger screen. From the OPs picture, it looks like one piece may still be unaccounted for. A small piece of cotter pin can cause some significant scoring if it migrated into an oil passage and then a bearing or prop governor. Just another consideration if deciding to ferry.

I’m still getting comfortable with the settings, but they say an extra 2 knots per thousand ft of altitude. Same fuel burn. I’m fairly light in that photo, but the plane has 1350 lbs of useful load. 4000 lb gross weight- she’s a dog on the runway, but get her going and she’ll haul a$$. She burns fuel like a Bravo, but she’s a little slower and can carry more. I should be able to run 17-17.5 GPH through her keeping her nice and cool, but I’m not generating quite enough manifold pressure to do that. If I drop her down to 2300 RPM, it only costs about 5 ktas and saves probably 1 GPH. Admittedly that’s one of the better performance photos I’ve seen, but’s I’m working through the system settings to get her dialed in after buying her a year ago.

We've always used soft side coolers in the plane. Like you say, they take up less room and are easier to back around. I used to have a bkool but got rid of it as it just seemed to be more hassle than it was worth. The best aircon is to just take off and climb. :-) The nice thing about camping with the Caravan is that we will have some large coolers full of cold drinks most of the time. We usually have some for hydration and some for adults. You can also get away without bringing other things such as a table/chairs. Although some camping chairs are nice for sitting in the grass out on the flight line and carrying with you to the air-shows, etc. I'm happy to chat off line about camping with the Caravan and what to bring, etc. FYI... there is a Target within walking distance for all the stuff you forget to bring or decided to leave at home because of weight.

that could be the ugliest cooler I've ever seen. nope, it definitely is. EDIT: I'm always caution about these soft coolers in the plane. a lot of the cheaper ones tend to 'sweat' and can get the plane wet, and that would make me mad.

One reason to pull the engine rather than do a ferry flight to the shop is that there may be no internal damage to the engine at this point. The next time the engine is started may result in catastrophic failure due to fastener separation. Doing an IRAN on the engine in its current state may be significantly easier than after a catastrophic failure. The overhaul shop, who I think is definitely responsible for making the owner whole again, could argue that they are not responsible if the engine sustains significant damage after it is operated in a known un-airworthy condition.

Don't do it...I am always impressed with your observations of small details hidden in photos.

Follow your gut and Continental.

I kept wondering about an Aviation Medical Examiner doing annuals and finding corrosion, and then I figured out it's a Canuck thing. I was thinking all kinds of interesting things before that. Kind of disappointed.

Hi Tom, I used a pilot named Hans Molbak, He's from Denmark, 20,000+ hrs with over 100 North Atlantic crossings, grew up in Greenland, currently flies Phenom lets for Net Jets in Europe, and is the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. The guys at Shipping and Airlines at Biggin Hill connected us. There are many factors that delayed the flight, but it was mostly the weather over the northern route. If anyone ever needs a ferry pilot, I can share his contact if you PM me. Of course the plane is fabulous. Jim

Armatures. Get your brokerage account to add a margin account to it. Sell the security. Purchase the plane. Repurchase the security(s) using the margin dollars. Be sure that you are running a business of trading stocks. Write off the interest as a trading expense. Bonus points for getting the account listed as Mark to Market.

"A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure." One more reason to install gauges that are certified Primary and remove the old stuff.

The C172 makes you feel super human, capable of Cog speeds that can keep you way ahead of the plane.... -a-