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Perhaps try a can of “Betty White”. It seems to hold up well with age.

@Shadrach, I appreciate your sharing your views and I’m sorry you feel like you’re the victim here, but I think the issue is a little more complex than you’re letting on. Most people wearing masks are not “sheeple” just waiting for the government to tell them what to do so they can blindly follow it, but reasonable people trying to make the best of a bad situation while confronting a serious threat and a high degree of uncertainty. When I studied public health in grad school we spent ONE day on how to communicate with the public during a public health emergency. I’m sure in future classes this will be covered in more detail. I think it’s unfortunate that the initial guidance people were given was inaccurate and then, not knowing where to get information from, people turned to sources that were more familiar to them - politicians, talk shows, newscasts. Unfortunately, most people covering this outbreak and giving people advice were so unqualified to do so that they gave horrible and often dangerous advice. Not being able to deal with uncertainty and not knowing what to do, people seemed to “pick a side” and stuck to it regardless of what information became available in the future. I get it. Not knowing what to do is a very uncomfortable feeling and it’s human nature to pick “something” even if that something might not be the right thing. I feel I was a little fortunate because due to my background in medicine and public health I was able to navigate the conflicting information better than most. I even tried to help others on this board, but quickly got attacked with a bunch of politics and personal attacks suggesting I was trying to control people’s lives and didn’t know what I was taking about. That’s around the point I decided to take a vacation from this place and let you guys sort it out on your own. It saddens me to see how many people were infected and how many people had family or friends that died. Even more had people close to them lose their jobs or go on disability. I was really hoping we would unite to face a common threat but instead we retreated and separated into warring factions - unwilling or unable to listen to the other side and choosing to pick a side rather that dealing with the discomfort of uncertainty and consistently re-evaluating our choices based on the information available at the time. I’m used to dealing with uncertainty and high stakes. That’s pretty much what emergency medicine is. I never have all the information and it’s constantly changing so I make the best choices I can at the time and if something new becomes available I re-evaluate the situation and sometimes make a different choice. One of the things I constantly ask myself is “what if I’m wrong?” A famous example of this in medicine is in 2000 when the AHA removed the pulse check from lay rescuer CPR. They acknowledged that the difference between a Type I and a Type II error could literally mean the difference between life and death. If you think someone doesn’t have a pulse and you do CPR on them, there usually isn’t any major damage done. They get angry and often push your hands away but most people who don’t need CPR won’t let you do it to them. On the other hand, if someone doesn’t have a pulse and you don’t do CPR on them they die. Therefore, the consequence of making a type I error is much different than the consequence of a Type II error (death vs. broken ribs) so they essentially said to not even try to figure out if they have a pulse and just do CPR. I wish people had applied the same principe to their response to the pandemic. The data on effectiveness of properly worn appropriate masks is pretty clear now, but early on it wasn’t. So, what’s the consequence of wearing a mask when you don’t need to vs. not wearing a mask when you do need to? Inconvenience vs. death? I don’t like wearing masks. They are annoying. I also don’t like killing people so given the choice I’m fine wearing a mask so that more people don’t die. I’m not going to try to convince you to wear a mask or change your ways, but maybe if you can consider your choices and what the consequences are if you’re wrong it might be useful in the future. None of us can be right 100% of the time, so every time you make a choice you could be wrong. When there are choices with very asymmetric consequences sometimes you choose the one that results in the least harm, even if you’re don’t know 100% what the right choice is. At least that’s what I try to do.

I have a total of about 300 employees across our dealerships. In my main business office I have eleven employees and just among those eleven they fall all across the spectrum from "This is going to kill all of us" to "This is the dumbest thing and let's get back to life" and everywhere in between. Last fall when we had a couple employees out at a separate location from the main business office with Covid I was sharing some facts from the CDC about transmission and one of them actually said "I don't want to hear about your facts." We try to keep discussion away from things that divide and cause negative feelings among the staff as we all need to come to work and we all need to work together. People's thoughts and opinions on this subject are strong and by this point well entrenched. If I was to try to convince my staff that I was right all it would do is make some of them upset and I would possibly lose a very good employee over it. I highly doubt any of us are going to change anyone else's opinions/thoughts about Covid through posting on these forums. Just as I would possibly lose a good employee by engaging in debate in the office (not to mention the lawsuits that could follow in a State like California for creating a hostile work environment) it is likely that if we continue on in debates like this on Mooneyspace that we will lose good members here. Members who would contribute well to the discussion of Mooneys and GA but decide it just isn't worth their time to spend it here. The original question was if anyone is going to Sun n Fun. I am going to assume @Parker_Woodruff asked because if you were he wanted you to know where to find him and also so he could watch for you and say hello. How about we just answer the question and leave it at that? If you're going, great! If not and it's because of Covid or whatever other reason then just say so, no need to tell someone else that they are right or wrong for going or not going. I see no need for this, or any other discussion, to devolve into trying to convince anyone about why your facts are more important than any other facts. As for myself, if I was within about a days worth of flying I would be there, but my Mooney just won't get me across the country in a day. Whether I would have a mask on or not and socially distancing or not I will leave out of the discussion.

Hawaii.

Yep. The Coast Guard Auxiliary sent me to STL a couple of years ago, insisted it be commercial. Sighhhh. So I left home (EDE) at 0530 to get to ORF for the day’s first departure. There at 0700 for an 0800 departure. TSA ignored my military orders and not-a-security-risk designation, rifled my single carry-on and fondled this old granny. OG was annoyed. Finally to the boarding gate in time to learn the flight to ORD was delayed. For hours. Finally boarded, worried that might not make the ORD-STL connection. A six circuit hold over Lake Michigan . Finally cleared to the gate. Oh. Oh. Oh. See Granny run. Run, Granny, run, Board 1 hour flight to STL. Sit. Sit, Granny, sit. In the takeoff queue, once we were finally cleared for pushback, for well over an hour. No lie. Just after sunset, we lined up for takeoff. Go! Waited in sleet for an hour for the hotel shuttle. Finally got to the hotel to learn no dinner available at that hour. Grrrr. 17 hours en route. Time to spare? Go by air. More time yet? Go by jet. EDE to STL (or nearby) is an almost door to door 4 hour nonstop Mooney trip. No TSA dimwits. No parking hassles. No traffic to and from the distant big airports. Going by Mooney, I could have left after a civilized breakfast, had lunch with my STL son and his, spent time with dear ones doing fun things, and and been delivered to the hotel across town to my conference tired, but happy. And home with a whopping tailwind afterward. For me, too far is water I can’t cross in 7 hours at 175 kts. The joy of flexibility is why I own such a fine bird. GA from coast to coast has afforded me time with scattered friends and family, impromptu stops at fabulous and quirky national parks and monuments, legendary towns, sometimes just as an excuse to stretch legs. The geologic wonders of the west, the neat wee airstrips, the good people who run them... why in the Sam Hill would anybody go commercial if they weren’t forced to?

I flew from Orange County to Sarasota 3 days ago. did the flight over 2 days and made it to New Orleans the first day. It is a lot more fun than taking airlines. Also at 6' 3", an airline seat isn't exactly spacious. I'd rather fly myself.

Depends on how you calculate the "fun factor". To get to ATL you would have to go to Spokane, Salt Lake, then ATL. If your kids are in the ATL metro area, not too bad. If they are in South Georgia, it would be quicker to jump in the Mooney. I live 90 minutes from ATL everything east of the Mississippi is faster in my Mooney even non stops. Everything that is one stop east of the Rockies is faster in my Mooney, Beyond that, I am just having fun and who says you can't have fun?

Never take advice from a mythical furry creature.

I just got my second shot yesterday. The first made my arm sore for a few days, but nothing else. The second was a whole lot worse. Got the shot at 1045. Arm hurt like hell by 1400; naproxyn helped some. Started feeling really crappy at 2230. Went to bed, but had a fever, headache, and the shakes bad. Eventually fell asleep, but woke up with a horrible headache and body aches. Fortunately, I feel better now, except for my arm.

We used to fly a fair amount from NY to Spokane. But always when connected to a vacation and we'd pick places to stop for a day or two along the way.

Sure, some of us come out of the woodwork to say, "NO." When someone posts this question it's not to much of a stretch to assume they are a first time buyer....even to assume they are looking for a 'low price'. The PRUDENT thing to do is WARN them that buying LOW is rarely a good idea. You are right, it MIGHT work out fine, but odds say it probably will not. As @carusoamsummarizes, there's a lot more to it. If they already have the requisite skills and experience he mentions, then it's another safe assumption that this question wouldn't have been posted in the first place. It isn't a matter of how old the plane is. A plane that has been sitting for 20 years is going to have more than just the engine that needs attending to. How much is it going cost to go look at it? How much to have a sufficiently in depth PPI done? WHY? There are recently flown models where the OP's time, and money, is probably better spent. NOT trying to discourage anyone. I just hate to see anyone starting out have a bad experience.

Sorry, unless this plane is nearly free, I'd move on. Even pickled, 20 years is a long, long time. You might get lucky, but if you don't you'll be in for $20K to $30K, plus the cost of updating avionics. What's a G with a mid-time engine and decent avionics going for? Will you be at that number after an OH and updated avionics? Breaks my rule of the most important thing in shopping for a plane: Recent use!

Is this the original Aspen or the MAX? The original would display the Red X if the pitot tube was blocked, ice or foreign object. To avoid this the MAX uses GPS aiding.

Even if you leave the throttle wide open, you are down to 24” in about 5 minutes due to the climb so I wouldn’t worry about it. I’ve looked for and been unable to find solid evidence that a power reduction early in the climb can actually cause an engine failure, but I agree with our CFIs above who say to leave things alone until you’re at a safe altitude especially since there’s no clear benefit to fiddling around with the knobs down low. Personally I don’t touch the throttle until cruise but will pull the prop RPM back to 2550 at 1000’ AGL. If your fuel flow is set right this shouldn’t cause CHT issues.

I am not sure how many of us on Mooneyspace have actually contracted COVID, I was defiantly one of the unlucky ones! mine started out as pretty benign, just mild flu symptoms. By the end of the first week I was in the emergency room, they pumped me full of steroids', magnesium and several other things. the next couple of days had me thinking I was on the mend and would be back to normal. then I went down hill, I apparently went into a mental fog, spent most of my time sleeping, and although i was up moving around I do not really remember about 4 days. my doctors put me on a Z pack a week after my emergency room visit, and I probably would have ended up in the hospital had I not come out of my fog. once I did I improved every day, I am still dealing with the pneumonia but finally able to get back to normal routines. The funny thing about contracting the Virus is I'm not exactly sure how I got it. I was pretty much isolated preceding it, the only place I was outside of work was when my wife and I went out for dinner (right time frame). Thankfully no one I was in contact with got the virus from me especially my wife, I couldn't imagine both of us being sick at the same time. especially knowing how much she was doing just taking care of me, I am surprised we do not have to replace the washer and dryer. Brian

Hi everyone. I can finally stop kicking tires and truly be part of the club. Eternal thanks goes to Richard Simile and Don Kaye for their expert guidance and sticking with me despite my numerous questions! I could not have done this without them both. I am extremely pleased with this purchase. Now I need to build time and experience. Another thank you goes out to others in MS who answered questions and helped me home my selection. I hope I can pay back. Freddy

For what it's worth, I don't pay any attention to sub-forums when consuming Mooneyspace content. I have my bookmark set to "New Posts" (across all forums), and could care less what content is posted in what sub-form. Out of respect for people who don't consume content that way, I do try to be careful about selecting an appropriate sub-forum on the rare occasions when I start a new thread. But otherwise, I don't pay any attention. My guess is a bunch of other people consume web-forum content the same way I do, and that may be why it's hard for new sub-forums to gain the kind of traction you're discussing.

For what it's worth, you can fly the Ovation on several different profiles depending on your needs and mood of the day. I am firmly in the WOT camp all the way to cruise altitude. If cruise altitude gives me any MAP at 24" or below, I leave it at WOT the whole time. Engines like air. I do reduce RPM to 2600 at 1000' AGL just to cut the vibration and noise a little bit. Almost always LOP except in the last scenario below. My standard cruise config is WOT/2450, just because it seems to be a bit smoother for me there than the standard 2500. YMMV. My loafing configuration is 20"/2400 and LOP to 10.5 GPH. Even loafing I get about 150 KTAS, which coincidentally is exactly what my cruise profile was in the J! So you can fly the O like the J if you want. Finally, race configuration is WOT/2600 and about 22 GPH or wherever I need to be to keep CHTs in line. My last race gave me an average TAS of about 194 knots at this setting. So there is definitely a go-fast mode on the Ovation, but the book speed of 198 knots most likely benefitted from a perfectly tuned engine and perhaps a bit of marketing license. Remember, that was based on the original max RPM of 2500. I can't imagine any Ovation at full gross doing 198 knots at only 2500 RPM, unless there was a little downhill action on the side!

Because the community cares about each other? Because folks are interested in the experiences of others? It's only political if someone makes it political. 500k dead from it in the USA. You are lucky is what you are, so is everyone able to message on this board right now...some more than others. I've been basically hibernating since last March after visiting with my Mother in Florida for her final birthday (She died a month later, the same day I learned that the case on my IO-360 was cracked). She was alone because of the Hospital lockdown. I can't begin to express the sorrow of your mother dying alone during something like this. The greatest gift that you have to give to your mother after all that she did... taken away from you...can't even describe it. The surviving family struggled and opted to not get together (We live all over the world) for any service and risk sending my father with her. My work days are spent on Zoom meetings in my basement. I'm still employee and very lucky in that regard. My weekends are spent working on things like the plane and the house. There are a grand total of 5-7 people that I don't mask up around in my little orbit. I don't think we have gotten it, but I've had some crappy feeling days...today even... but maybe that's just how life is when you have basically a year long winter...hard to tell. We don't eat out, we don't go on trips, we are in an extended hibernation doing our part to not spread this thing because we are in a position that allows that by being able to work from home. I know some people that have gotten it with permanent side effects. I know some people that have died from it. I'm hoping that the vaccine rolls out fast and I'm disappointed in those that aren't going to take it and help us to build herd immunity. If we don't squash it with nearly universal vaccine acceptance it's going to keep mutating and become like the seasonal flu virus only way way more deadly and we will all be living with this at some level for the rest of our lives. That's my experience and take.

Speaking purely of pleaure flying here - not for business flying which is entirely a different topic. But for some us, it has very little to do with beating the airlines schedue or economics of flying GA vs commercial. Our flying is all about adventure. With an annual flying budget commited as an aircraft owner, that eliminates the concern for transportation cost ecconomics. If economics was an important factor, we wouldn't fly anywhere GA. The only time there is any real competition from an alternative means of transportation is for shorter trips that are driveable when wx and schedule don't always coinicide. But for longer adventures we simply pick our days to fly and its rare we can't use our faster cruise speeds to fly an alternate route that skirts weather systems or to use our turbo to get above a lot of weather into the flight levels and enjoy the smooth sunshine. But we're never in a hurry to go anywhere. Its not just a single destination for us but the series of destinations we'll visit, such as our last trip before the pandemic in early 2020 to Central America with many fun destinations going and coming back that makes it fun for us. Rarely do we fly all day and then spend the night only to spend another long day in the cockpit to get somewhere. We more typically spend at least 2 nights before moving on to the next destination. Luckily we've always had ample time for at least a couple multi-week trips every year plus several 3-4 day long weekends through the year; like to go pet the Calif Grey Whales in Baja. But thankfully we've never felt the need to stay aloft as long as possible to cover the most distance we can in a day. There is one notable exception when we'll fly commercial. For us that has been diving destinations where we really do want to maximize our time at our diving destination and not be bothered with carrying all our diving equipment (everything but tanks and weights). But we've visited some of our same diving destinations such as Cozumel by both Mooney and commercial for different kinds of trips. Anyway, every trip we do is much the same, in that its just one leg at a time, whether its a day trip or a near 3 week international trip. Of course the longer trips need more advance planning and often adminstrative paperwork for flying out of the US. But the pre-flight planning is another element of the adventure since logistics is just as important as the flying on longer trips.

No, my comment simply asked how your diatribe about masks, vaccines, etc., relates to visiting SnF. Prospects of going, risks of attending, your own likelihood of traveling, were not mentioned. But you did manage to denigrate the work of many people, the choices that many people have made / are making [i.e., here's what I think about a non-Mooney topic, any who disagree with me are wrong; but feeling, thinking and saying things like this is a common thing right now]. Rant on all you want, but tie it back into flying, Mooneys and the original question--are you going to SnF? Otherwise it's just an unrelated rant, and too many of them will get you ignored by everyone here. Note that I have not expressed my opinion of masks, vaccines, pandemics, etc., nor have I expresses an opinion of what you wrote, just that your writing here is unrelated to the rest of the thread or even to general Mooney flying.

Thanks, Richard. Part of the reason for my answer choices was to gauge what I might expect at the show. It's no small cash outlay to have a booth and it's good to know that I'll get to see some people there. I've got a lot of skin in the game, regardless of what people's COVID opinions are and if they go to SnF or not. I've also got a lot of opinions on the whole matter, but that's not for this board. I'm a very fortunate small business owner compared to a lot that aren't making it out of this. I've experienced steady growth (enough so that taking a PPP loan would be dishonest, so I didn't) while many others have had their business swallowed up by big business with big tech resources - they had much greater ability to adapt.

Besides, you don't have to wear a mask in the Mooney!

Flying myself should be fun - as GeeBee said - and I think also some version of convenient. If flying commercial clearly beats the Mooney on either factor, then maybe I go commercial. It can depend on all sorts of details, like how much flex I have on my schedule (tight work schedules can sometimes take the fun out if I know I will be watching weather the whole time), or if I just want to veg doing it the commercial way, or if I want to bring a bunch of stuff (bikes, etc) for a flexible schedule. What time of year is it and what is the weather generally. Anyway it may weigh differently every time even for the same legs. I just go with the flow.

https://youtu.be/U4ATlQUyQIo This was my first time with a passenger in the Mooney. My wife and I took 201QE down to KFCI to meet my sister for some lunch then collected airports on the way back. The cameras died on the way back so just the trip down there was recorded. The Mooney has opened the door to taking more of these and other trips that would have swallowed an entire day otherwise.

Glad this didn't end in tragedy as did the Southwest 737 in 2018 that lost a fan blade causing engine and cowl fragments to penetrate the fuselage, including a cabin window, killing a lady seated next to that window. More often than not, a safe return with no one hurt is accomplished, but the potential to hurt or kill someone on board or on the ground is real. Well done to the flight and cabin crew.

I’ll be there. Got my two COVID shots already and will continue to exercise care but looking forward to it already. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks, sort of... I read your points... you said everyone here automatically.... I didn’t fit that category... I spent a fair amount of time crafting what I thought was a pretty good post... I offered to help focus your points so the OP could understand what you meant... It comes across in a way you probably didn’t mean... Yes, some people accidentally bash a plane for sale... because we are not perfect writers... Yes, some people bash other writers... hmmmmm... I don’t get the point of this. None of this helps the OP... Welcome to the club of people having difficulty writing... You might get used to it after awhile... Best regards, -a-

Wait a minute... one doesn’t have to be a Christian to get good advice from the good book... Just use caution with discussing religion related topics around here... Like politics, it can be offensive to some people for various reasons... Best regards, -a-

Wow.... What did we learn... 1) Using flightaware doesn’t tell us very much about the person flying... 2) Using post count doesn’t say much about a person’s flying experience... 3) MS is kinda like a dinner party... you get more out than what you put in... 4) It takes effort to put something of value in... 5) Everyone has additional value they can add... 6) MS is always about Mooneys... 7) MS is a always about flight... 8) Often MS is about speed... you might see a video of an MSer’s corvette, at speed, around road Atlanta, around here... way cool! Driven by a pro world sports car champion, or something similar... 9) Sometimes Safety becomes the topic of the day... you might get a discussion on the value of mask wearing, by pros in the medical industry around here... insight of what is trending in the medical community by the medical community... 10) some safety topics get approached from a non-aviation viewpoint, one MSer has a ton of industrial safety background, more OSHA than FAA... always interesting to hear the input... 11) FA doesn’t tell us a person’s background... education, experience, age, where they grew up, or how pleasant they are to speak with... Guess you are going to have to join us at the next fly-in... to get to know the people behind the key board... they are real... they have personalities... they aren’t afraid to say hello? Or welcome aboard... MS... a community of pilots, mechanics, students, CFIs, business owners, doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, military personnel, youtubers, avionics installers, flight simulaters, dog relocaters, patient transporters, musicians, that all live in a few different countries...on a few different continents... Some people appreciate anonymity... and that is OK too. There is more to be gained by joining, and being part of the community... It isn’t always easy to fit in... Ages range from 20s to 90... It is always easy to be misunderstood... I get That a lot... Make a mistake, apologize, edit, try again... Go MS! Best regards, -a-

@Cruiser While it is not the "official" installation manual, the AeroNav KSN 780/8XX/9XX installation manual for helicopters is on the Bendix King manual download site. It shows all of the configuration pages, field selections, and options. While it is not specific to the Avidyne box, it is the same under the covers, and I cannot believe they would have done more than change the faceplate and bezel. I did use it when troubleshooting problems with my installation, and it is where I found all of the very slight variations from what my GNS had. Worst case scenario, you can read it at night to put yourself to sleep...

I'll be attending, Hangar C, Booth 92. I'll also be doing 4 presentations at the education forums (dates/times are TBD).

You must be right - maybe I better get the gray out of my hair!!

My brother in law called me a few weeks ago because his wife had “quarantined” him to the RV in their yard because he had an “exposure.” She would bring him food but wouldn’t let him in the house or let him see the kids. The funny thing was, when we talked about it what they were calling an “exposure” wasn’t anywhere near what would qualify as an exposure. I was able to get her to let him back in the house again and everyone was fine. Part of me wonders if she knew the whole time that he hadn’t really been exposed.

Already corresponded with flyingchump about this, but for others reading the thread... the reason multiple bolts are listed with "AR" is that the length of bolt you need depends on how your particular hand-crafted aircraft came together at the factory. The spacing between the retract link and the "tension strap" (the thick piece of aluminum riveted to the spar structure) varies from airplane to airplane, so shims are inserted into the assembly as needed to make everything match up. The length of bolt you need to snug things together depends on the number of shims. The "AR" in the parts manual just means (A)s (R)equired. In other words, you have to take the old bolt out to figure out what length you need as a replacement.

Thanks, 1NU gets top billing for the lead role in the videos. But the beard is the lead supporting role!!! That’s why the channel is getting branded, The Bearded Mooney:) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@PeytonM, remove any easy panel that's the color you want to match. Go to a good auto paint shop and they can match it. It worked well for me. While you're going there anyway, take a panel with all of your colors and get everything matched.

I would not hesitate to find your traveling machine now, and do your instrument in that. That is what I did. If you want, you can simply slow the plane down while you are learning to give yourself more time for instrument tasks. Pretty much any Mooney will do what you want. Mine, a 231, is turbocharged. I have not made your exact trip, but nearly the same several times out to the East Coast and many other places. Here are some thoughts: For a traveling aircraft, I really think you want a quality AP like the KFC 150, 200, or one of the new Garmins. You need to learn to hand fly in all conditions, yes, it can get so rough the AP says "you have the controls," and you better be up to it. But for all around every day flying, including instrument approaches in IMC, in my opinion a good AP that can fly the approaches is safer. You also want great weather. Any trip of that length will take you through at least one weather change. It is a major safety advantage to be able to see what you are getting into before you get into it. Minimum would be ADSB wx in on an iPad, best would be a moving map like the MX20 (old technology but it works), GX200, or best, a GTN 750 or MFD, coupled with a GDL69 so you can get Sirius XM weather in. With that combination you can look at the weather hours ahead of you and plan for it, speed up to beat a developing storm, slow down to let one dissipate before arrival, or re-route. A good WAAS enabled GPS guidance system coupled to the AP is a must these days. If you want dispatchability, FIKI is needed. It is available in a rare few 252's, and in the Bravos, Ovations, and on up. Read the ads carefully, there is inadvertent and there is FIKI deicing. You can't buy inadvertent thinking you can convert it to FIKI, it actually costs more to remove an inadvertent system and install a FIKI, than just buying FIKI to begin with. You are going to be at or north of 240,000 for a FIKI equipped Mooney. Turbo v. non-turbo. I made the choice to go turbo and have not regretted it. In my aircraft the east-west trip and the west-east trip would be completely different. East-west it is difficult to go up to the teens or flight levels because the increase in wind speed equals or exceeds the increase in TAS. Generally, I stay down where earth friction slows the winds. I will go as high as needed though, when I have passengers, to avoid turbulence. In that general neck of the woods, over the Great Lakes, typical summer weather generally involves what I call "popcorn cumulus," cumulus build up that generally does not include Tstorms. It is always turbulent under the bases, and therefore uncomfortable, and that is really tiring over a long trip. It is especially turbulent right under the bases. Going over the top will give you glass smooth air generally, the passengers will really like it. That will require climbing to anywhere from 8 to 16k. East to west, you have to balance this with what the winds aloft will do to your GS. West-east is another matter. Barring some kind of weird weather, I will virtually always go high. Glass smooth, and in crossing the lakes you can get high enough that an engine failure will allow you to glide to the opposite shore. I have done Michigan that way several times, a little further south than your planned route. You will also get great speed, over 200 kts., pretty normal to be around 230 kts GS. Sometimes as high as 300. I once flew Peoria to Frederick MD in an hour 45 minutes, and a good part of that was maneuvering in the east coast airspace.

Some resources FAA ICAO flight plan form FAA guide to ICAO flight plans Garmin guide to ICAO flight plans Garmin PBN/RNAV equipment codes for ICAO field 18 equipment capabilities indicator PBN/ Garmin XLS with codes per instrument see attachments Example O2 GX non WAAS, Mode S (see comments for ADS-B) Field 10: SGRYD/S S - Standard Equipment: VHF-COM, VOR ILS G - GNSS R - Area Navigation (requires indicator PBN/ in field 18) Y - 8.33kHz COM channel spacing D - DME (its useless to discuss why this is still required for IFR in German airspace ;-) /S - Mode S transponder (for GTX33 with SW upgrade providing enhanced surveillance use /H instead) for ADS-B out use /B1 instead for ADS-B in/out use /B2 instead Field 18: PBN/B2C2D2O2S1 B2 - RNAV 5 GNSS C2 - RNAV 2 GNSS D2 - RNAV 1 GNSS O2 - RNP 1 GNSS S1 - RNP LNAV Approach Example O2 GX WAAS, Mode S (see comments for ADS-B) Field 10: SBGRY/H S - Standard Equipment: VHF-COM, VOR ILS B - LPV G - GNSS R - Area Navigation (requires indicator PBN/ in field 18) Y - 8.33kHz COM channel spacing /H - Mode S transponder with enhanced surveillance for ADS-B out use /B1 instead for ADS-B in/out use /B2 instead Field 18: PBN/B2C2D2O2S1S2 B2 - RNAV 5 GNSS C2 - RNAV 2 GNSS D2 - RNAV 1 GNSS O2 - RNP 1 GNSS S1 - RNP LNAV Approach S2 - RNP LNAV/VNAV Regards, Matthias Garmin_ICAO_Flight_Plan_Information.xlsx

I myself contracted The Sickness™ back over Thanksgiving. The sequence of events of how I realized I had the disease was a real blessing. At the time, the Mooney was down for Mx so I was borrowing a friend's Cherokee to fly from VA to TX for a business-related trip. I woke up early AM and was feeling really groggy already but I am most definitely not a morning person so I didn't think much of it. I took off and headed west for my first leg but the headwinds that day were terrible (40-50kts @ 4000), so 40 minutes into the trip, I said "fu** it", turned back around, made it back to home base in 15 minutes, told my client that I'd have to try another day, then went home. Over the next 2 days I had a really sore throat and then eventually I noticed that I could no longer smell the shampoo in the shower. At this point I realized I was screwed, so I got tested asap, and surprise... Apart from the sore throat (which cleared after half a week or so), my experience was relatively mild, thankfully. However, I never got my full taste/smell back, which honestly is a huge bummer. I'd say my senses sit at around 80% of what they used to be. Funny thing is, I actually had a reputation for being able to pick up on the slightest scents, and during my days as a line mechanic, it really helped since I could pick up on the smallest avgas, engine oil, or 5606 leaks around the airplane. I can no longer rely on that sense anymore ... but I suppose there exists a silver lining - at least now I can pet/belly rub/cuddle dogs without realizing how stinky they are

I took my first IFR training flight yesterday. I loved it even though I was chasing the plane, felt like I was behind it almost the whole time, and ended up so task saturated that on our return while flying the RNAV into KFUL I was looking at the vertical deviation which showed us above glideslope but I was holding us level thinking we were below glideslope. I have used it enough just for fun in VFR conditions that I know how to read the instrument, but my brain was not helping me out... Some great experience and looking forward to the next flight Wednesday night. If you want to read about the flight I wrote it up on my blog. https://intothesky.com/2021/02/21/ifr-training-chasing-the-plane/

Because it affects our flying! Not just our ability to fly but it can also affect where we can go and how long we can stay. besides that we are a community and as a community we should be concerned and supportive of those in our community. But this is just my personal opinion, and we all know the saying about opinions!

I'm really fortunate that I still have a job. We went remote with classes last March, will likely be so until Spring Semester next year, possibly fall of 2022. I haven't been out to eat since since the weather turned cold, and we only went out a couple times before that. I only go out for stuff I really need, food and booze, always masked. Haven't flown anywhere except to get gas and do landings. Life in the time of COVID has sucked. Still, I'll keep doing this until I get my six vaccinated. At the rate things have been going I could die of old age first. I feel horribly for those who have lost their livelihoods. Those won't be coming back any time soon, some possibly not at all. I feel even worse for the dead. I think anything that robs a half million of my fellow Americans of their lives deserves to be on Mooneyspace.

Not as often as you might think. Hardly worth it unless you are going 300 miles or better. There was one time I was flying back from San Fran and there was some weather along the way. I was on top at 17000 and the clouds were rising, so I asked for higher. Some other Mooneyspacer posted later that day "I heard you request FL190, I was under it all getting beat to death". Its a small world out there.

Once I had to fly to Iowa City for work. I figured it would take 6 hours in the Mooney. I decided to take the airlines. It took 11 hours on the airlines....

It burned a while because: It takes time to run the check list. The fire loop burned through because likely there was no fire warning, fire loops were destroyed. The fuel control cutoff was damaged, so when you activate the fire switch, it cuts off at the spar valve so you have a lot of residual fuel making its way through the system The halon manifold was probably destroyed, but even if intact a little hard to get a halon concentration in a 200 knot slip stream with no cowl. On a pylon hung engine, it can burn forever, it can burn until the engine falls off and the airplane is not in danger. There is no reason on a jet aircraft to get in a hurry. Move methodically correctly identifying and verifying the correct fire switch and bottles. To expand on V1VrV2's theory of CSD magnesium fire here is how hard that is to put out:

This Covid Corona virus in my understanding is a Pestilence. I believe our great Creator (Jesus Christ) provided us protection from Pestilences using His Psalms 91 plan. I would recommend you read it yourself using the King James version. If your not a Christian, this plan won’t help you. I trust this method more than any other one. Respectfully to all of you.

I'm afraid I've only been there (Clemson) a grand total of 3 hours, plus a few minutes since I've driven by it a few times on I-85. On the particular trip I mentioned my friends and I eventually discovered Cook-Out (a burger chain). Although I enjoyed it at the time, I honestly can't recommend it since their burgers now give me terrible stomachaches. I'm not sure what kind of food Clemson would have, especially considering it's really a college town, so I can only expect most of the restaurants there would be geared towards catering lower-priced eats for college students. I'm sure you've probably heard of BQ1 (Pik N Pig BBQ restaurant is literally on the airfield, and yes, BQ1 is indeed the identifier). Having lived in Texas a few years, I'm still a diehard Mesquite brisket fan (more of the meat and less of the sauce) but objectively speaking, Pik N Pig still churns out good Carolina-style BBQ. Charlotte NC has a few airports sorta arranged concentrically around uptown (main city). Namely, Rock Hill (UZA) is around 7 o' clock, Monroe Exec (EQY) at 4 o' clock, and Concord-Padgett (JQF) at 2 o' clock, although be advised, JQF does have a ramp fee. Let's Meat, located near uptown, is an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ place (one of the best KBBQ places I know in the Eastern US), although on weekends be prepared for a 2-3 hour wait list (a testament to their popularity). Mr. Tokyo is an all-you-can-eat sushi/hibachi restaurant and unlike a lot of sushi buffet places, this place is legit and their food is fresh. They have three locations in Charlotte, but I've only been to their Hwy 74 (Independent Expwy) location. Jeni's Ice Creams is a great after-dinner dessert place where you can grab a cone and hang out with friends. Amelie's is an exquisite French-style bakery and cafe. Also a great snack/coffee type of place. My favorite off of their menu is their salted caramel brownie and salted caramel latte (did I mention that I like salted caramel?). They have multiple locations around Charlotte. I remember I did all my commercial written exam studying at their Rock Hill location. Chokh Di Noodle House is a Vietnamese/Thai restaurant run by a friend of a friend, and I can confidently say they make the best Vietnamese pho in the area. The physical store itself is relatively small and located in a strip-mall type of setting, but they did a really nice job furnishing the inside area. Located in Hwy 74.

Our Mooney is just coming out from annual inspection, and the clock bulb was changed. The mechanic found easier to access the bulb through the top of the panel with the glareshield removed. He didn't attempt to access by the ASI, but I believe this is also a good option for a quick access that avoids removing the glareshield. I 3d printed the changing tool with the file that Larryb shared above, and it revealed to be very helpful because it takes a lot of pressure to turn the bulb out. Actually, you need to press and turn 90º to take it out. But with all information shared here on MS and also with the web videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j5Bg05vLuE) about Porsche 944 clock repair kit, this was a painless job. You can see below pictures of the before and after. Our clock really shines now!!! Thanks a lot to all that helped !! (I still recall severall emails I changed with MooneyFactory asking for information on how to solve this issue, and reply had always been that they were waiting for the MD answer...!! one more situation where MS is a really powerfull tool for Mooney Pilots) Cheers Fredi