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Showing content with the highest reputation on 12/06/2020 in all areas

  1. After landing at an airport for an offield lunch, when I return and see a Mooney parked on the ramp....... I too look up the N number, only to discover it’s mine!!! This could possibly be an age related issue.
    8 points
  2. I find that when I arrive at an airport via plane or car and see a Mooney on the ramp, I immediately think: "Oooh. A Mooney." Then I think, "I wonder where he/she just came from an how they use their bird." Then I think, "I wonder if I know them on MooneySpace." Anyone else have similar thoughts?
    5 points
  3. Don't ever let someone else tell you how to fly your airplane in an emergency. PERIOD!
    4 points
  4. I look them up too. The first time I met Lee Trotter we were up in Utah and I got a PM on MS that said "I think I'm tied down next to you at U42." I was able to meet him the next day at the airport and chat while we brushed snow off our planes.
    3 points
  5. On the plus side, you may be the only person on MS who gets to take home a new Mooney every time you go to lunch
    3 points
  6. Good grief.... This thread convinces me that a plain old magneto system that has been around forever is the best way to go and way less down time and uncertainties... I needed to replace a mag recently during annual and had none of this nonsense....
    3 points
  7. And there is this. A twin champ. Yoke in front, stick in back. Image from Wikipedia.....but one was recently for sale on Barnstormers...
    3 points
  8. Trip report - 4 Paws Aviation K-9 Ear Muffs worked perfectly. Heck, he even fell asleep! ~40 min flight one way, enjoyed the town after the flight and then happily jumped back in the plane for our trip back. First time in a small plane so happy it worked out so well!
    3 points
  9. Thiss is my favorite, but it's not really an "airplane"
    3 points
  10. I always thought the second engine just got you to the scene of the crash quicker. But on the cri-cri, I'm not sure it would do that . . . .
    3 points
  11. Ok - here is a weekend starter. What is your favorite silly airplane? For my opening entry, I nominate the Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/vought-aircraft-heritage-foundation-retirees-finish-vought-v-173-flying-pancake
    2 points
  12. I've enjoyed being here and I've learned a lot. But next week my new partners and I will be picking up our new to us Cirrus SR22. One of our other partners will be buying us out of the Mooney and moving it to S43 (Harvey Field) just east of Everett, WA. One share still for sale, by the way, for $37,000. I've loved the M20J but I will also enjoy the added safety of a parachute (especially for my non-pilot wife) and a little bit more speed, even though it will be less efficient. Take care, be safe, have fun.
    2 points
  13. My plane will auto taxi and park next to Mooneys that are on the ramp. Just one of the great features of our fine aircraft.
    2 points
  14. I'll take spectacular ways to kill pilots for $500 Alex.
    2 points
  15. LOL.... So this is somewhat normal?.....
    2 points
  16. 2 points
  17. Yep, I often write down the N number to look up later. I do the same thing in flight when I hear a Mooney check in with ATC.
    2 points
  18. Maybe not silly, but certainly most interesting the POGO was! I saw this aircraft stored at the Smithsonian Garber facility in 2001. Quite something it was!!
    2 points
  19. The cost of operating a factory turbine is shockingly high. C&D pegs the M20TN and Bravo at $205/hour w/ $5 gas. Meridian/TBM are $900-1200 per hour. Yes, you are going faster, but not that much. Then there is the cost of money and higher insurance.... Even the Jetprop comes in at something like $800/hr. I spend $25-$35,000 per year operating the M20TN 150ish hours every year with no interest or hangar charges. I'm simply not in a place that I can rationalize spending 5x that for the much more capable SETP. For all the hate directed at the CMI engines, I think it's wrong. These engines are very efficient, light weight and reliable. Consider the Cirrus experience: 100 cases where the pilot elected to pull the 'chute over 10 years/10,000,000 hours of flying? If all 100 of those chute pulls were catastrophic engine failure, then engine failure is so unlikely as compared to stupid pilot tricks that it fades into irrelevance. 1/100th% likelihood of a chute pull event every 100 hour year. And Cirrus pilots are pulling the chute for a variety of reasons, not just a rod or cylinder departing the cowling. The cirrus owners group keeps very good data, and i'm using approximate recollections here.... WRT the big continental diesel... I have a hundreds of hours in DA42's and am very fond of those installations. I would, however, be more comfortable with a couple hundred thousand hours in service for a new diesel in a single. Stuff breaks no matter what engine you're running. -dan
    2 points
  20. December in North Texas... how many days can I play hooky - going out today to test my Xmas present #2 - Bose a20s... wife got them for me ‘o) Gonna do some inspections today since she has 10 hrs since she’s been back together. Plan is to address some items I discovered during flight (mostly small). Beautiful day to do that ;o) -Don
    2 points
  21. No. That isn't available until several years later and a couple hundred thousand dollars more. Ours has the inadvertent ice system. Kind of useless in my opinion, especially since it costs about 50 lbs of payload when the tank is full. However, I guess it will be nice to have if I ever screw up and encounter ice. From what I can tell, other than pumps and tank size, the main difference between the FIKI and non-FIKI is that the FIKI version covers the entire wing while the non-FIKI doesn't quite reach all the way out to the wingtip.
    2 points
  22. I’ve heard about it. I’ve read about those unfortunate enough to have suffered such an incident... and I’ve often wondered to myself... what would I do if the worst happened to...my flap indicator. yes... as my son was climbing up onto the wing he slipped and scraped the trailing edge of the flap, and it moved down a little then sprang right back up into place. As he did, I head a “POP” sound from the panel. I got out of the plane and my son was fine... and thankfully, so was the flap (not even a Knick on it). I got back into the cockpit and noticed that the flap indicator post was gone. Crap. so, anyone that’s heard of this happenijg before knows that the flap and trim indicators are actually about 5 foot long stainless steel push wires that connect all the way down to the flap and trim motors. That’s not a typo- the flap one is about 5 feet long. From the indicator window in the panel, these wires run through their conduits, which go through the floorboards, and between the floorboards and the belly panels to their respective motors, where they have a small adjustment set screw and are bolted directly to the motor arm. So you really are getting a physical indication of where that flap or trim motor is set! Unless... of course... the indicator rod has broken off in the window. the piece you see in the window is an acrylic rod that’s tapered and painted at the top, and held to the push wire by some shrink tubing. Here’s how I fixed mine... step one: run the trim all the way down so you don’t break off that indicator too while you’re doing the work. step two: unscrew the four screws holding the window and indicator into the console. step three, remove the clear window. Be careful not to snap off the trim indicator. Step four: locate the flap indicator push wires behind the console through the opening. You’ll have to make sure the flaps are all the way up- or you won’t be able to feel the wire behind the console. my wire bent about 45 degrees when my son pushed the flap down and it sprung back into position- so I had to bend it back to upright. There is no way to remove the console without drilling out a bunch of rivets or cutting the console open on the passenger side. I was able to manipulate the wire with my fingers through the flap indicator opening, but it took time- as I was working “blind.” You’ll need a small mirror to look at the piece through the opening... I purchase some 1/8” acrylic rod from Amazon for about $10 and measured it out against the trim indicator rod. Then sanded the tip down and covered it with a small piece of black shrink wrap. I epoxied that to the flap wire and left it to cure over night. The next day, I put it all back together. Good as new. Total time was about 1.5 hours... much of that was spent trying to figure out how to bend the wire back into shape and reach it. good as new!
    2 points
  23. I've always been partial to this one. Airtruk PL-12
    2 points
  24. Just turning the commutator is not enough You still have to undercut the insulators between each commutator segment to be lower than the OD. Fine hacksaw blades do it well This is old school stuff that many A&Ps today have no idea of.
    2 points
  25. I read the accident report on that a while back. Iirc, they didn’t even think he turned it on. Also didn’t attempt to exit icing conditions until too late. I also think it was an inadvertent system instead of fiki, although they are almost exactly the same. Pulled the chute way past the maximum speed and ripped it off. I think forecast ice at my cruising altitude at night might be past my comfort level in a small airplane, fiki or not. Here in Spokane, there’s often a 1000’ thick layer above 500agl that just refuses to burn off in the winter. Above that it’s beautiful. Fiki is really nice for that!
    2 points
  26. #1 On my list was recent flight time; don't buy a plane that hasn't flown much in the last year, or not at all.
    2 points
  27. 2 points
  28. I’ve always loved this thing. I recently learned that it was developed and flown out of what is now my home airport, KBDR. Many people don’t realize that this is also the home of the Corsair. The hangar in the picture is now part of Atlantic Aviation and I drive over that spot on my way to my hangar. This is also near the spot where Igor Sikorsky developed the first practical helicopter And the airport is now named after him. The Sikorsky factory is not far from the airport and a number of Sikorsky helicopters are based here. For a while the company was Vought-Sikorsky. There is a video on you tube of the V-173 development, including some early models flying inside of the hangar. There is also mention of Charles Lindbergh, who frequented the airport and I believe he flew the plane. Not far from this spot is also one of the oldest hangars in the US, you can still make out “Curtis” along the top. It is supposed to be restored in the future. Sorry for sidetracking already, but lots of cool stuff happened within a square mile of the spot in the picture. You would never know it today. There is also a little known museum across the street, the CT Air and Space Center, which includes many helicopters and a Corsair.....oh, and it is in the old Corsair factory building. Also, great $100 burgers at the Tailwind Cafe, just outside the gate. Edit...upon closer look at the pictures...I’m not 100% sure this is KBDR original picture or the restoration at another WW2 era hangar....but the video I mention has our local hangar.
    2 points
  29. https://www.eapanels.com https://www.knr-inc.com/2014-07-13-01-32-38/instrument-panels/20-manufacturing/55-1ip-mooney-pre1969 https://store-hendricksmfg-com.3dcartstores.com/Custom-Instrument-Panel--Engineering-Deposit_p_52.html
    2 points
  30. My Daughter was there with me- hence the sparkly sandals! :p
    2 points
  31. I need to print some of these.
    2 points
  32. Here are pics of the panel....it must be real.
    2 points
  33. Ughhhhh! Shooot! Hey wait.... before you go... It has been proven... We can get the pilot out of the Mooney.... But the Mooney, never comes completely out of the pilot... You are always welcome to hang out here... So it’s not really good bye.... it’s more see you later, alligator... Best regards, -a-
    2 points
  34. Agreed and great video! I can't help but think I would have been inspired after the event to complain to the inspector that the controller should be better educated on PIC emergency authority and his role to help - as it was the controllers actions where a hindrance to the pilot adding to his workload rather than reducing it. Thankfully this has to be really uncommon and hopefully an outlier as I have only heard controllers being as helpful as they possibly could to pilots declaring in the air; as well as second hand reports from others.
    1 point
  35. I love seeing other Mooney’s on the ramp. A few weeks ago in Nashville we were walking out to my F to head home and I saw this one parked next to me! I actually forgot I took this picture until I saw this post. Anybody from here?
    1 point
  36. I had a cycling coach back in the day who was one of the four pilot cyclist team who crossed the aegis sea in Greece. I’m still in touch.
    1 point
  37. How about a Breezy, I always wanted to fly one of those.
    1 point
  38. Congrats on the speed upgrade. I hope my next plane is an M20R but a close second is the SR22.
    1 point
  39. Your choice of footwear is impressive.
    1 point
  40. Looks like it’s going to be a little more challenging to select a proper turbine than we thought... 1) Down low... fuel efficiency seems to be the challenge... 2) Up high... air availability seems to be the challenge... The turbine in Tom’s plane seems to be properly sized for speed, for our typical operating altitudes... even though Tom’s Lanceair IVPT is comfortably pressurized... ( @Yooper Rocketman ) Is Jerry’s Rocket Engineering / Piper propjet... pressurized? ( @Jerry 5TJ ) PP thoughts only, no turbine experience... Best regards, -a-
    1 point
  41. See if @MooneyMitch is familiar... Be prepared to converse... he is handy with a trumpet... Welcome aboard RT! -a-
    1 point
  42. When homemade jacks are made well, they are as good as any professionally manufactured jack...especially when you use the locking rings
    1 point
  43. Steve, Don’t get me wrong. 750txi or even 530w is wonderful. I was trained with them till recently with my experience with IFD. On IFD 540, 1) you have GO reference when you’re entering flight plane or you have amendment to your route. It’s so convenient. 2) Go reference frequency with the names. 3) when you’re on a map it shows all your crossing altitude for non-precision approaches! 4) you get to any page with in 1-2 click. 5) FMS system it’s much easier. With 750TXI, you have to change pages each times you want to change or edit a flight plan, obstacle, and more. IFD is not like that! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  44. 1 point
  45. I have a Surefly on each engine of my Aztec. They work very well. I hope they are as durable as a magneto . Time will tell.
    1 point
  46. Thanks much all. I opted to have the generator re-built.
    1 point
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