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I was looking forward to this year's Mooney Summit. Really bummed it was postponed. Nevertheless, I still wanted to hold the presentation I had planned to do, but virtually. I don't have a solid date and time yet, but thinking Thursday, October 21st at 8 p.m. EDT...will post the official time here once I can solidify my schedule. I'll be more than happy to do this assuming I can get a good number to attend (say 30 or more). If there's very little interest, I won't bother. So, please add a "Thanks" or "Like" to this post if you are interested so I can get a feeling for the number of you that might be willing to attend.

If I have to use O2, I use a pulse-oximeter. If I get near or below 90%, I ramp up the flow and remind myself to breath through the nose more.

your fellow pilots must be so grateful for the end of the work day..... oh by the way...we all put our locations as to where we hangar....yours says FPR...not a class B. BWTFDIK.....

A couple of weeks ago my plane had its annual. The battery had to be replaced on my ELT. When I got the plane home I heard a ticking noise coming from behind the panel. It was like a watch ticking. No idea what it was. I called the mechanic and he said he did nothing behind the panel but they did replace the battery in the ELT and reset it. He told me to push the reset button on the panel which I did and nothing happened. He then told me that I may have to check the ELT in the tail and make sure it's switch is in the armed position. I did and it was. I decided to turn it off and turn it back on again but I accidentally switched it the wrong way and activated the ELT. It was literally on for a second then off again. Before I could walk around the tail of the airplane and climb inside to check if the ticking was gone (which it was) the Air Force called my cell phone to see if I was okay. The ELT was activated for about 1 second and it took about 10 seconds for them to call me. It was that fast. I told them I was fine. They asked me if I was at my home airport which I said I was and they said okay. Quick phone call, nothing bad. I was just shocked at how quickly they got a hold of me.

I just bought a unit and plan to install it soon. I called their tech support and they certified the unit in a simulated environment (vacuum chamber) into the high 300's. According to their tech support, they have not experienced any issues at altitude. Their biggest issue is installers not timing the unit properly -- have to set it up at 0 degrees on the engine and get the dip switches set properly. I will report back with my experience as well.

So after extensive searching I haven’t found any reports about high altitude flying and arcing in the cap but i haven’t found any reports of turbo charged airplanes with surefly flying in the flight levels either. So I’ll start with the standard install and if arcing happens to me at FL’s I’ll report about it and do the modification that Jim Baker was talking about they do for the cirrus planes that have pressurized mags.

My annual is scheduled for next week. This is the time we’ll have a look at it. I think we are onto something with the elevator. There is definitely some asymmetry. Not much, but it’s there. I can’t see anything unusual about the ailerons or how they interact. I’ll keep you posted.

Plane parts has the master cyl overhaul kits. Bill Goetschel overhauls the master cylinder and can replace the seal for about $200. 507-581-9761

More than I wanted to know… https://www.goodyearrubberproducts.com/2010newpdfs/APG_O-ring_Catalog2010.pdf

I don't get it either why you might think being a plane owner makes you immune from the all the mishaps that a rental pilot can have? The OP never said a checkout was required but knows many clubs Do require a checkout because they are trying to reduce their incident/accident rate and is doing the prudent thing to not become a statistic. The site picture on landing really confuses a lot of pilots into landing long and worse going off the opposite end. My local club probably had the most recent accident their totalling a Bonanza doing just that and yes its was the pilots first time to Catalina.

I don't get it. you say you own a plane. you don't need a check out to go anywhere if you fly your own plane. if you are renting one, they may require it. when I was in LA a few years ago I rented from van nuys and just grabbed an instructor and said I wanna go to catalina for lunch, can u work the radios and get us thru the local airspace? it was a much better choice than doing the whole checkout process and then taking a bunch of annoying coworkers up. great experience. but if u have your own plane, there's no such thing as a checkout to go to catalina.

probably a good idea....the airport itself is not difficult,its the illusion presented on short final that as you approach the numbers ,you are presented with a clift face.That and its located on top of a 1600 ft mountain right out of sea level.Other airports present the same illusion though..Sedona,telleruride,old st george...all are built on plateaus with steep drop off.Basically,if you fly on the numbers,and concentrate on the approach markers and not the cliff side ,you will be fine

OK. I don't need to comment which is which.

Called them. Sadly, they didn't seem bored. I was instructed to go to here: https://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/Beacon Testing Policy.html and fill out a form. I'm gonna do that. EDIT: Follow-up. 3 days advanced notice required. Gonna sit and think about it. Maybe I'll ask a big avionics shop nearby if they have the test rig and give that a try.

Terrifying - sorry for the damage and expense but glad everyone is ok. IMHO the gear position indicator lights in the J bar planes are not just useless but actually detract from safety relative to having no lights at all. Early in my ownership of my C, I too was fooled once by a green light despite the gear handle being incompletely seated in the down lock block - luckily I caught it on short final and went around before contacting the ground. Now I completely ignore the lights, which add zero info beyond merely looking at the position of the J bar handle. Tugging down on the handle and trying to a unseat it from the lock block a couple times is an important ritual before landing these planes.

If you buy a new date coded switch, you get rid of the recurring AD.

Has anybody that has a surefly electronic ignition flown it in the flight levels? I just got off the phone with Maggie harnesses and their tech guy warned me that surefly has been having arcing problems at altitude because even though the Sim will not arc like a an unpressurized mag will they have seen arcing in the cap where the leads are and thus need to pressurize the cap to keep that from happening. I talked to jim Baker that doesn’t do mooneys but does do cirruses and he confimed that you have to get better insulation in the cap or pressurize it where the lead wires enter or you will get arcing in the flight levels. So anybody with a surefly installed, have you tested it up in the flight levels yet? Have you modified the cap to keep this from happening?

Just get a hobby prop tachometer. It works from in the cabin through the windscreen so at anytime in flight or takeoff you can see what speed the prop is turning. Has settings for 2 to 9 blades and showed my digital tach to be 10 rpm off at 2700. Hangar 9 Micro Digital Tachometer, HAN156 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006N72U2/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glt_fabc_Q1R1AFT4CH1JPFY5895J

yes. very hit or miss, and i do not feel all that accurate. when you can get it to read (maybe 10 percent of the time) i get saturation levels in the high 90s at 11500 feet. i KNOW it is not that high. checked with a finger oximter, its usually 5-10 percent lower.

I've been taking lessons in a C172 up in the teens to get used to flying to the west. My CFI and I use O2 be but neither one of us had a way of really knowing where our O2 levels were. So I figured it would be a good investment and they are not stupid expensive.

useful to have on long XCountry and altitude They all work well The issue with all these nice to have items (handheld radio, oximeter,... ) is to make sure the battery is not dead when you need it

Both times when I got called it was a non-issue as well, but also pretty comforting about how quick the response was. Anybody who doesn't have a 406 ELT connected to a GPS source should be thinking about it as critical safety/survival gear.

Yep. I used this plastic parts cleaner first but SEM makes a prep too. I've used Krylon Fusion for Plastics to; satin black. Works great and it's more readily available.

Grabbing a CFI for one flight seems like really cheap situational awareness around unfamiliar surroundings. I ever get out that way I might do likewise. Pretty smart move actually.

As I was preparing for a student tomorrow, I came upon an article I wrote for the MAPA Log in 1993, a year after I bought my airplane. Have times ever changed! I thought I had the greatest panel ever devised for a GA airplane at the time--and I did. But compared to what I have today, it was nearly the dark ages with only the most primitive of displays. I had praise for the MAPA Safety Foundation back then, and even now look back fondly on taking the PPP because I was introduced to Bob Goldin, my mentor instructor, and a person who single handedly changed the course of my life, although I don't think it was intentional. Some people just have that impact, though. Through his mentoring and encouragement to become a CFI and CFII, I changed my life's orientation from Real Estate to Aviation. Of course Real Estate continues to be important in my life but Aviation has taken center stage. Bob recommended me as an instructor for the PPP and I enjoyed teaching for them for eight years until the management changed with the death of Don Bymaster. Bob was forced out due to age and after I tried to make some recommendations for improvement to the Program, I was out. I am not a fan of politics. Luckily, I make my own path in life. Through flight instruction I have met so many interesting people I never would have met otherwise. I've attached that article for anyone who wants to take the time to read it. It's funny to see how excited I was over things that seem so trivial today. Also, I've totally changed my opinion on the use of speed brakes, and have written on their use in another article on my website. Time does march on. Mooney N9148W Mooney of the Month.pdf

Look up that Boeing BMS spec for extreme simple green aircraft formula, and tell me what it says. It is a spec for aircraft bare metal corrosion, but there is no guarantee it won’t trash or paint. It just cost us $20,000 to have the airplane repainted, no big deal I guess, but extreme simple green is what killed it. Here is the real litmus test, get on a creeper and get under it and wash the Belly off, it takes the grease right off, but when that simple green runs down your arm into your armpit it burns with the fury. Ask yourself what you’re putting on your plane. If you wouldnt put it on your Porsche 911 Turbo, don’t put it on your airplane either.

The OP already said a Checkout wasn't required, "I figure there's some useful tribal knowledge that's worth getting even if I don't strictly need to do it? Is that sound thinking..." Sorry but your post comes across as chastising him for wanting to get the help of an experienced CFI going there for the first time. You apparently didn't think that was "sound thinking".

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/orings.php?clickkey=3008697 This should help.

As I recall from my flight there (with a CFI), although in the middle of the ocean, Catalina is sort of a mountain airport. Airports built on plateaus tend to have significant downdrafts just prior to the threshold so landing technique - a steeper approach than the standard 3 degree path - is important. On the other end, the takeoff, the runway configuration leads to a bit of an optical illusion that you are going to go off the end before getting to flying speed. I'd take a local CFI with me. But that's me.

I happened to pull the G5 log and found that at the time I retracted the gear I lost the GAD 13 and GMU 11 which puts more weight in the electrical load too high category. After talking it over with my A&P we are going to cycle the gear on Jacks. Likely replace the battery as it's probably time. Adjust the airspeed switch and re lube everything for good measure. Thanks for the help guys!

Not until the end of the runway, just until there is no usable runway remaining. On the 3700 foot strip I fly out of, that is at rotation. My approach comes from how I have staged my abort criteria. Once the gear comes up I have effectively committed to flying, that means any problem from that point forward leads to landing straight ahead or entering the pattern to return to a normal landing. On a 6000 foot runway the gear will normally remain down until the halfway point, on short runways the gear comes up sooner. I may be wrong in that interpretation but if the engine quits and I have runway ahead of me, the gear and the drag are already there to help me make it.

The extensions are easy to remove, but you have to work in a tight space. Roll the trim all the way forward to get the yoke out of the way and take the seats out and it will be easier. If you don’t already have them, you should get a Service and Maintenance Manual and an Illustrated Parts Catalog. Here are a couple of drawings that show how the 3” extensions are installed on the pedals and how the pedals are mounted with no extensions. The 3” extensions change the geometry of the pedals. After removing them, you may find that the angle of the pedals when applying the brakes is too far forward. This requires adjusting the rod length for the master cylinders from underneath the left exhaust cavity. Skip

If you are leaving the gear down till the end of the runway you are leaving alot of drag down. The theory is if the gear comes up right after lift off you will have more speed and altitude which gives you more options. We may be saying the same thing depending on what you define as effective runway.

My first Skytec starter lasted a fuel stop. Thankfully a rubber mallet fixed it. My second is going on 12yrs. I carry a spare in the hat rack. The day I take the spare out I suspect will be the day the current one fails.

I know that my strainer was checked last year because I'm the one who checked it. Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

We’re doing dog pics? Fine. Here is Snoopy a.k.a. Snoopasaurus Rex

We used to use that until it destroyed our paint. If you aren’t rinsing it off with plenty of water it’s corroding the aluminum at the seams as well.

Strava.

What does hangering at a class b have to do with your ability to write down taxi instructions? No one mentioned it was or was not complicated except you. Several people did say there is a possibility to screw up and they are explaining ways they mitigate that but since you have never had that problem you don’t seem to understand how others could. Don’t worry your day will come. Hopefully it’s only your pride that gets hurt.

Absolutely. There won't be anything in there that isn't connected to something.

I’ll fess up that I left the towbar on the 172 once, flew three approaches and was landing back at my home field when my safety pilot noticed the shadow, one of my best landings every, Got very very lucky that the handle had collapsed and didn’t get into the prop. Its now on my checklist in 3 places “towbar removed”

While I suppose you could do that, what is an A&P going to be able to do in flight? It's pretty obvious when recording all the parameters if there is an anomaly. I circle the airport up to 4,000 feet, then set up a holding pattern on the Aera 760 or, if a GTN 750 is available, do it on the 750 and fly the hold a couple of miles to the side of the runway. If there were to be an issue, just circle down and land. I have done all my break-ins with flight following in combination with traffic and weather on the above avionics. The spreadsheet goes to the Shop after I land.

I agree about the limitation, but the pump is the correct one. Apparently the correct pump comes with a stiffer spring now??

Don't forget you'll need your complex AND high-performance endorsements. Landing in a Mooney is qualitatively different from landing in a Piper trainer, but not fundamentally different. I've mentioned this before, but if you're still flying a trainer, practice good short-field landing technique, the goal being learning precise speed control on final. I trained and flew in a Cherokee, and if you're over the numbers 10 knots fast in a Cherokee, you can still land fine. In a Mooney, you're going around at many runways. Once your over the numbers at the right speed, though, it's the same idea. The controls are less mushy than a Cherokee so it feels more precise. Also, the wings are lower in a Mooney, so there's more ground effect as the wheels touch down, so with the same technique your landings will (theoretically) be gentler.

Our fuel pressure is normal, however the oil pressure is 92 psi in cruise and it's been that way for hundreds of hours and it came from the factory that way. Run it.

Yes, idle at 30-31, cruise at 27-29 ish.

I had my IO360 A1A overhauled back in 2019 and I experienced the same issue with fuel pressure around 45psi. I went back to the overhauler to inquire about the problem and he showed me the Lycoming Service Letter L225A which instruct to substitute PN # LW-15473 with PN #62B26931. https://www.lycoming.com/sites/default/files/SL255A Approved Diaphragm-Type Fuel Pump.pdf Fuel pressure is higher but, as shared by M20D0C, the engine manufacturer's specifications calls for such high pressures.

PM me for details.

Thanks, Shawn for asking! I had a real fortune of meeting Adam out of KRHV. He took me up in his M20J. It was a blast! His M20J has everything you could dream of. He's got the MOONEY SUPER 201 COWL and painting done with special coating. His avionics were top of the line glass cockpit. Overall, it looked like a brand new airplane! I just spent a week in Alaska doing a bush piloting course and I am heading back to San Jose next week. I will keep looking for opportunities to learn more about Mooneys. I am 5'7" with short legs so reaching the pedals while sitting up right seems little challenging in Mooneys. Adam mentioned about extension you can put on the pedals for guys with short legs. I want to pay to get some Mooney time (~25 hrs) and get the real experience of piloting and landing. Someone is selling a M20F down in SoCal. I will check that out, too. That's the report from me so far, Shawn.

+1 for the one wheel