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Although a pilot/owner is allowed to remove and replace screws under preventative maintenance as mentioned above, recognize the only approved replacement parts/hardware is listed in your IPC. Anything else is considered a alteration or modification. A minor modification can be approved by an A&P but not under preventative maintenance. Thus its best to seek the guidance of your IA performing your annuals before making modifications to avoid surprises later. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Stretched the legs on the Bravo this afternoon flying from Stow, MA (6B6) to FXE with a bit of a headwind most of the way. Unfortunately most of the warning areas were active so I couldn’t cut the corner like I wanted. I was also concerned about the dust cloud but at 16K I was just above it as it started somewhere over South Carolina...

That's not great. I too have a 67F. I would be concerned with that ROC. Even with the heat you should have been at 1000fpm once on speed. I was out under similar conditions last week. I was probably a few 100lbs lighter but the DA was higher. Does the engine data plate list the ignition timing as 20° or 25°? As an aside, one of the things I was doing last week was testing the popular theory that Mooneys won't climb with gear and flaps out. My bird had no problems holding 900-1000fpm fully dirty (gear out, full flaps) but i had to climb slow (85mias). If I can hold 1000fpm fully dirty out of a 701ft field with a DA nearing 3000, you should be able to do better cleaned up for climb.

"Unable" doesn't apply here. About the only reason I can see he could ignore the clearance requirement before entering the Bravo would be if the pilot was having an emergency in which case the controller wouldn't deny a clearance but would offer him everything she had to help. "Unable" is for before an deviation has already occurred when issued an instruction and while you and the controller still have time to try something else. But even then "unable" should come with at least a brief explanation and preferably an offer of an alternative means of compliance with the controller stated intentions (such as avoiding traffic). Professional use of "unable" doesn't lead to tying up the frequency with forcing the controller to play 20 questions on the frequency. If controller tells you to turn immediately for traffic I hope no one would seriously consider saying "unable" - this was essentially the case here when he entered Bravo without a clearance. Personally, this sounds like simple "road rage" by the pilot. The FAA inspector will talk to him after Las Vegas approach forwards the data to them but I suspect the pilot will be seeing both a suspension and remedial training at the very least. His anti-authority attitude gone wild really deserves the maximum IMO.

Francis, The coolest thing about certified airplanes... They have reliable results... There are thousands of M20Cs that continue to fly safely each year... All the documented parts have documented success... To start swapping things around for various reasons... opens things up to what will fail if I do this.... Essentially trading things out with something that sounds better... starts going down the path of the experimental world... Maybe you are a fastener expert, and know better... there is a simple process for that... Maybe you are a machine builder... read up on the FAA rules for that... If you are not sure what fasteners belong in your plane... they are listed in the manuals... Somebody put them there for a reason, and documented it... Are you familiar with truss head bolts? Why they are chosen? Simple question? What makes you want to go down this path? Lots of work with so little to gain... PP thoughts only... Best regards, -a-

I’m on the mid Atlantic coast. Any destination east of the Mississippi is a one tank trip in my 20S+.. We aren’t spring chickens, so a four-hour ride tests our comfort level, and we are happy to take a break, borrow a crew car for lunch, and stretch our legs. Yes, even with two of us, off-peak hub-to-hub trips may be cheaper. But we are nowhere near a hub, nor are most of our destinations. And with airline overbooking antics, scheduling miseries and TSA abusiveness, I don’t care whether it’s cheaper or not! I rarely if ever spend less time door to door going 121, unless I’m headed to the other coast. One frequent route of mine is from my rural N.C. home to STL. Usually takes just under 4 Screaming Eagle hours westbound. The CG insisted on buying me an airline ticket to a training conference. It took from 5am to 11 pm door to door by airline. Ugh! I love the GA scenery, the technical challenge, the flexibility, — and my seat assignment. The guy next to me never hogs the armrest. If you love the process, and owning a high performance bird is feasible, the decision is easy. Find a good Mooney. Buy it. Fly the heck out of it. Probably doesn’t make economic sense for me, but my Mooney makes me happy. They’re right, you know: if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Some things are priceless.

Yesterday - I flew around with my new button! A RED BUTTON! My airplane has a RED BUTTON! I was unreasonably tickled by how much fun it is to turn the airplane on by pressing the red button! Zoom! I had it done because it better matches the electronic ignition than a key system, but wow what fun - a RED BUTTON! Even looking at it after the flight - you can just see how much extra sassy sass it has now that it has a red button to push start it.

If I were the FAA, this pilot would have his license revoked and, if a fine is possible, fined to the max. His anti-authority attitude makes it even worse. Looking at his position in the Airspace, he endangered other people. The Controller should be commended for keeping her cool as well as she did. You are not entitled to enter Class Bravo Airspace. In fact, most times when asking for a clearance into a Bravo, it is denied for small planes. Even on an IFR flight plan, as a small GA airplane, I am vectored around it in the Bay Area. This pilot is a disgrace to the GA pilot community, and the Henderson Controller should be ashamed of himself for apologizing to him.

Exactly, Paul. This would have been a complete non-issue, or at least a very less entertaining tape, if he'd been professional. Courtesy and professionalism can go a long way...but in his case, he used the radio like a CB without proper usage of call signs and such...which only adds to the "evidence" which will go against him.

NEVER accept an annual as a pre buy, especially and annual done by some one else for someone else other than you. (The buyer of the annual rules). Take the airplane to someone who has no connection in the past and have a pre-buy. If one of those MSC fit the bill, fine. Just make sure you are getting an independent and uninvolved opinion on the airplane. Distance should be reasonable, but do not let that stop you from getting it to a place where it needs to be.

Thinking about how funny the “unable” response was, I think someone (maybe the justplanesilly guy on YouTube) should make a parody of him. It would be similar to: ”1NR ready for takeoff runway 9” ”roger 1NR, hold short, landing traffic” ”unable” ”you’re unable to hold short??” ”yes, I’m taking off now, don’t bother me in my takeoff roll, it’s unsafe”

For what it's worth, VASAviation's "radar" display is a recreation based on various tracking data websites. He takes audio from LiveATC, grabs the appropriate tracking data for the area & timeframe, and feeds it to a piece of software written specifically for the channel. That software generates the "radar" video. As I understand it, actual controllers helped get the software "close enough" so it looks like the real displays, but it's entirely a recreation based on public information.

data is getting better by the day... Test quality is improving... Test quantity is improving... Drug development is making progress... Companies are getting better with including social distancing... People are getting better regarding how to follow social distancing... age is helpful... but kind of like being a 46year old guy having a heart attack instead of a 64 year old guy... Hospitals are getting better at handling things... More is known about medications to help with recovery... Businesses are finding ways to keep things improving... economy and health are both important... This takes getting used to... Getting everybody on board... distance masks hand washing Not touching sensitive areas Everything takes practice... helps to share experience... Late June Summary... From the Easy Coast... -a-

Yeah, I tend to think something else was going on. Evidently there was one previous communication when the guy checked in with Approach. Then the next communication some time later he immediately responds with "Unable". It's almost as if he was expecting to get caught. He knew he was doing something wrong but had a plan for it. From FlightAware it looks like he's a very active pilot. I wonder if he'd been denied entry to the Bravo many times before and decided to bust it this time and knew it was coming. I think what my reaction would be if: a) I thought I was staying clear of the Bravo but then get that call from ATC... My default response would be to apologize and say I thought I was staying clear, sorry, I'll descend/climb/etc to vacate the Bravo. b) I thought I was cleared into the Bravo but then get that call from ATC... the default response would be to apologize and say I thought you cleared me into the Bravo, I must have mis-heard. I can't think of any situation that I would respond with "Unable" to that call from ATC. Unless I knew the call from ATC was coming and was planning my response. Either that or he's just a general asshole all the time in most all situations.

Well I made the trip from 6B6 to FXE this afternoon and the dust tops were just below 16k. The pic on top was taken around Jacksonville and the is canaveral where it started to get a little better...

This is an outright atrocity. The controller is nothing but a nazi trampling over this pilots’ right to fly. We need to start a fund to bail this guy out if he gets in trouble. Better yet, we need to defund the FAA and burn those control towers down. Enough is enough!

A couple flights this week. The panel shots were for a three leg trip bringing a friend home after helping and visiting her dying mom (after her discharge from surgery at the Mayo Clinic in KRST). The in flight photos were last night coming home from NW Minneapolis. That was looking north at Lake Superior. In the first flight photo, near the Lake Superior shore line, is a long slender lake (actually 12 miles long north to south) known as Lake Gogebic. As I was taxiing out for take-off last night, I heard a Mooney announce on long final (which wasn't a problem, I still had plenty of pre-take off checks to complete). I asked him if he was a Mooney Space participant. He said he was so I introduced myself. It was @lotsofgadgets Man this plane is fun to fly !!! Tom

The only thing missing in this convo was 1NR saying "you're not the boss of me!"

Coming home last night we had to make a detour around a large cell. I made a time lapse by holding my left arm in an awkward position while Otto flew. Tops to 550 and dissipated as we flew along the back side of it. Pretty cool view.

David and I met up this week and knocked out the details. Put a deposit on her today! The great news is David now has the time (and incentive ;o) to get the cowling to a state where I'll be able to fly it home (sometime in late August or early September). For those who are waiting for the cowling, this will help you folks as well. Very excited and David has been awesome to work with. As the plane is put back together and flying again, I'll update folks with its progress. We have a few items to knock out and she'll also have a Surefly mag to replace the left one. Can't wait! Once I get some time flying her, I'll be looking @ adding a Garmin GNC 355 GPS/COM with CDI. Because I'll be waiting on the Garmin, it will put a damper on my IFR training in 52W a bit. I'll probably add the Garmin early next year. This will give me more time to save some money, study, and get better -- maybe do some simulator training to keep my IFR training going. Sorry to those who are waiting on the new cowling, but I'm now first in line ;o) -Don

I have no idea what is in C2V3 but for $30 bucks I love it. Its fantastic. EASY to apply and the results are head and shoulders above anything I have ever used before. Since it is inexpensive and results are great - now 3 months on it still looks great - even if its only good for 3 moths it is well worth it. If it last longer than all the better. Yeah I have always figured its not ceramic as in "crystallinity of ceramic materials ranges from highly oriented to semi-crystalline, vitrified, and often completely amorphous " like actual glass. I don't care. I always figured it is some kind of polymer more like a epoxy. Saying, oh its sealant is entirely not a descriptive term. I could put white calk all over my airplane and call it sealant. C2V3 goes on smooth, wipes on wipes off, and leaves an absolutely deep and clear and smoooooth finish and is absurdly easy to use and so far showing at least good to excellent durability - and we shall see how long it really lasts. But so far its lasted long enough that I would do it again even if I needed to re-apply every 3 months.

I have no idea if this is the case here...but in my most recent career, in wind turbine tech work, we found that stainless fasteners and nuts were more susceptible to galling (seizing) when driven in/on with motorized drivers. When spun on by hand, stainless nuts would go on normally...but when an electric driver or impact was used we'd get a high frequency of seized fasteners. The same happened with stainless bolts and screws. Anti-seize compound helped, but was not a 100% cure. We developed guidance for the installers that discouraged the use of drivers. But...like I said...I have no idea if that translates to a potential problem using a screwgun on the panel screws. PP thoughts only...not a professional torquerator (a tribute to -a-)

The counterbalances on the crank are for torsional vibration. Balancing the prop, is for radial vibration. Although they will have some interaction, it will be minuscule. I can’t imagine what engine time has to do with it.

Went to the US Aircraft Expo near Raleigh yesterday to look at pretty new airplanes. There was Diamond, Kodiak, Husky, Carbon Cub, Tecnam, Honda, Pilatus, TBM, Cirrus, and a few more with odd names. No Beech. No Piper. No Cessna. And no Mooney. Guess that says something. Think Garmin glass was in every panel except the Icon jet ski, round gauges in that. Sat in a Diamond DA62, pushed some buttons on the display and made motor noises. Turbo Mercedes diesels, water cooled. Hand holds molded into the airframe to assist boarding Man, that thing is slick. All parts looked like they were molded to fit, not hammered in place. 1.2 to 1.4M. A Baron is about the same money, designed in the middle of the previous century with no cup holders.

High unlikely aerodymanics IMO, but you can check "wing aerodynamics" on power off descent, cut power and look at ROD on various ASI readings on half useful weight, get some ratios and check against your best glide (900fpm at 90kts is 1:10, 1400fpm at 70kts is 1:5) on clean/dirty config if you see something fishy check your aircraft surfaces rigging, also the chance to check your ASI & VSI against GPS ground speed and altimeter descent over long period, second, for delivered power you can check engine & dynamic prop settings against straight & level POH cruise ROP performance (IAS = power) and takeoff distance performane (ground roll = power) this may show some issues with "prop aerodynamics" at fine pitch and high power settings, note that takeoff ground roll is less sensitive to "wing aerodynamics" Dirty wing or config will not have much meaningful impact on best ROC performance near best climb VY speed but they do matter a lot at high/slow VFE/VSO speeds (but always good to check that your Mooney does not fly like STOL Cub with engine off), once you rulled aerodynamics out, the last thing to check is static prop mechanical loads on breaks & initial roll (max MP & max RPM) but without an engine instrumentation (e.g. EGT or FF) there is no way to guess what is the real power output: you have no thermal load indication and fuel mixture setting can be all over the place, so there is no way to figure out if you engine delivers max rated power (unless your prop has the right size, weight and number of blades and it is well balanced and rigged on the flat pitch stop), obviously with engine monitors issues tend to will be well visible in the data, especially if it is on one of the cylinders....

New investors wouldn't have invested if they didn't see a possible return. I know that they are working on a couple projects. Long term would have to be parts and service, in-sourcing, improvements/upgrades and then a totally new product. It also depends on what the Chinese sold them. The only TC/PC is the M20. I'm looking forward to great things.

I throw all the screws in a Dixie Cup (should I just call them cups?) and spray them with lube before you put them back In. They never stick. You can even use @Piloto favorite WD-40

Yesterday’s flight to give @FlyTester a ride home from dropping his aircraft off https://reliantaircraftservicesllc.com for annual. Smooth air made it an enjoyable formation flight.

Yeah, good call. These days you never know.

you started it....lol

Here you go.. POH3600G.pdf

On my flight from Cincinnati Lunken to Downtown Kansas City I passed 200 hours in 12 months! A first for me... by a long shot. And since the Mooney was in the shop until August 4 last year the hours will keep racking up with nothing coming off the other end of about 5 more weeks. This Mooney stuff is quite awesome. A photo of me yelling 200 hours at the GoPro.

One of my classmates thinks he had it in Jan-Feb as well, so I suggested donating blood as a way to get tested. Remember, though, that the tests aren't 100% accurate, and it still isn't known completely how long the immunity lasts or reinfection susceptibility. So, by my understanding, even if you did have it in Jan-Feb, and even if the tests were 100% accurate, it's possible you could still test negative. Given how sick some people get when this is around, though, I find it unlikely that very many people had it back then, but who knows. Getting the test done certainly won't hurt, though, and might be a useful data point. I have several friends in the healthcare profession here in the Phoenix area, multiple of whom are working on the front lines, either in ERs or directly in covid-19 wards. An anesthesiologist friend that runs a pain clinic here contracted it during volunteer work in NYC. If you get it and it's not bad consider yourself extremely fortunate. Masks go a long ways toward mitigating this, as well as hand washing and social distancing. Be safe out there.

Power Boost - CLOSED

Yes ground & traffic sight were very exciting that day, I am way more comfortable orbiting on downwind leg or extending my downwind (for short moment preferred to trust my own eyes than ATC watching my back), the event was a fiasco, the other traffic was faster on approach than what me/ATC expected, they were cleared to land while me cleared to orbit, then they did low go-around with no ATC input (unstable approach & few TCAS warning & could not spot me), I had them on visual but lost it as I started to orbit and drifting above their final path, so decided to call for "go-away", ATC had no clue: their "go-around" call was too late and my "go-away" call is unheard of... This was Class D, so not that much relevant to "busting Bravo": you will do as you are told there and ATC does handle everything but the point still apply if you fail to comply or want to deviate, at least say clear intension in a timely manner (neither me or other traffic did well on this) rather than being a "lose canon" in the Bravo, but I agree with @kortopates this was more "road rage" than "unable/negative" or "crossing your Bravo at XXX with no clearance"...

Just be glad it was only a 2 blade prop. :-)

Sticking the tanks level is critical. Very few ramps are level and variations will cause big differences out at the caps. You will also likely find that the gauges are not linear. Your apparent burn rate will be quicker below half tanks, so be aware of that and use caution the first few trips. This is due to tank geometry, especially since the senders are not well matched to bladders.

I was just being silly....... such positive news you posted! Thank you.

yeah large shops just want them in and out as fast as possible, if you find a thing they missed or screwed up you must make another appointment and then its the same thing again, in and out fast.....eventually you may get your issued resolved after a few visits at your cost of $$ and the downtime of which they dont care, they just have to many planes to work on.........my experience anyway from C150's to GVs... Also when you go into those shops there are like 4 bosses....and nobody want to take accountability....I do not know how many times I have asked who did what to my plane and all I get is, "I dont know, I was not here, it was my day off, I was out on a service call, etc etc...." I asked earlier this year if they have been checking my oil screen in addition to my filter during the annuals....all I got was a shoulder shrug...

This is my experience as well. I even bought a $50 bottle of their C1 stuff and used it when I restored the finish on the hood of my truck. The C2V3 stuff is awesome for how easy it is to use and apply and how much difference it makes in the appearance. If it's sealant, it's a really good one and reasonably priced for what you get. The C1 takes more time to apply and to my eye the appearance results aren't much different than the C2V3. A golden eye can probably tell. My truck sits outside in the AZ sun, so I thought it'd be a reasonable experiment to see how long it lasts. Usually the sun here will erode a good top finish in a few months to where the water beading is noticeably affected. I put it on in April and it still looks fresh, but it's too early to tell whether it does any better than the synthetic waxes I usually use. In any case, the C2V3 is much less expensive than the C1 and much easier to apply. For a hangared airplane this seems like a no-brainer to me.

unfortunately you'd probably be right. instead of competing with with a seneca or baron at around a mill, mooney would double the price and not sell any. but I'd still like to see one.

Looking at the radar returns in the video it does appear that he was underneath the bravo where he was shown. It does not show his entire path to Henderson. As others have said, I think even if he was clear of the bravo the entire time he needs more training or a checkride or something.

Learn your roll. For me SL hot summer day to the gills is 1300 ft. I know that by heart. It’s my go/nogo decision on the runway. Not off by 1700 feet something is wrong. Stop. Also you are going to want to download the engine RPM app. That will tell you your takeoff roll RPM within a couple 10s of accurate. It’s $8 and worth it. Finally budget for an engine monitor. It’s the most valuable piece of equipment you can put in a panel besides a backup AI. Baby bottle test Mag timing You Borsescoped those cylinders when the plugs were off, right?

I also tend to wonder if something is wrong here. Obviously serious speculation and probably never will be proven, but medical, drugs, or alcohol? It seems like someone of sound mind would not fly into a bravo, be warned about it, and rather than get the heck out of the bravo, fly further into it and start an argument with the controller. From her initial tone, it sounds like a turn out of the bravo would have resolved the situation without the controller calling out the deviation.

LOP or ROP?

I think it was on the radio? Remember, at that stage the ground controller had not heard the interaction with approach control so all he had was the pilot's description. I could totally see myself being polite in response even if I planned to back check the story, which I bet he did at this point.

very likely the pilot was returning from a protest event .................... attitude.

One problem, a person like him might still fly even if his license is revoked. I think they should repo his airplane.

Thanks, that makes sense. Seems like the OP could just do the full power static run and quickly determine whether or not the engine was developing rated power or not then?

paint next