IndyTim

I have a 796 on a yoke mount and like it there. It doesn't interfere with my view of primary instruments. I'm also 6'2" with about 1" of headroom. That might be a factor favor of my perspective over top of the 796. I also have an iPad/Foreflight on the copilot yoke. I use both in flight - the Garmin as my primary EFB with ADS-B weather (via Garmin GDL-39). Foreflight is a backup and I use it to look at charts or routing changes in flight. The reason Foreflight isn't primary: I don't trust it as much as the Garmin. It's an app, on top of a consumer-grade portable device. Admittedly, Apple's products are probably better in quality than just about anybody else's (that's not saying much - the electronics/computer industry has an abysmal track record relative to product reliability/robustness). But still, I trust the Garmin a lot more. Additionally, the Garmin has a massively better display in sunlight, compared to the iPad. And I can plug it into the A/C 12V socket without worrying if it can handle it. I think I burned up an iPad doing this.... Downsides to the Garmin: cost, obviously. And it runs hot, which in turn makes me question its reliability/longevity also. But it hasn't crashed in flight. The iPad has.

That makes sense. Additional question: what is Tower expecting?

This seems like a dumb question but I'm going to ask it anyway. I've hit this scenario a couple times on recent trips, and as a still-learning pilot I'm wondering what other folks do. I was on an IFR plan, with VMC as I approached my destination at a towered, class Delta airport with left traffic. Runways were 18/36, with winds at 360. My heading was 270. Approach told me to expect a visual to 36. When I was still east of the airport on a heading of 270, Tower gave me "cleared to land 36" without any further specification. The question (and this applies to non-towered airports as well): what would you do? Would you: a. follow the AOPA preferred crossing for a NON-TOWERED airport, cross the runway midfield, execute a RIGHT 270-degree turn to join downwind for 36? b. cross midfield and make a LEFT 90-degree turn to join 36 downwind? c. join a RIGHT DOWNWIND for 36? d. ask the tower for clarification of the pattern? e. something else? I'm wondering because, after I landed, I saw two other aircraft come in behind me on a RIGHT traffic pattern. And, my experience is that ATC gets impatient if you spend too much time in the pattern - hence my concern that the preferred option for a non-towered airport might not be the best option. I've hit this scenario at non-towered airports, and I've been following the preferred approach with the midfield crossing and 270-degree turn. I don't like it, but I understand the value.

Headwinds, no question for me. Since they almost always increase with altitude (when westbound), they can offset or even null out the K's improved performance with height. I've been trying to work out rules of thumb for my increase in cruise with altitude, so I can make a decision in the air whether I should go high or stay low when heading west. I think it's 3-4 knots per 1,000 feet, from 8,000 to 16,000 or so. Then 4-5 knots/1000 from there into the flight levels, up to FL230 beyond which I don't care. But interestingly, on the 3 or 4 trips where I've really tested this, even when the winds increase by more than that rate of 3-5 knots/thousand feet of altitude, I still "win" if I go higher. I don't know why that is.... I really need to go collect some more rigorous data and graph it...

I was using Sirius/XM weather, and just recently changed to a Garmin GDL-39 with ADS-B display on my 796. It doesn't offer quite as many weather products as XM WX does, and the winds data isn't as granular, but for $60 less per month, I'm making it work. I was hesitant to go this route, since I tried it early on and at that time there was no Winds Aloft data. Now there is, and I find it suits my purposes.

Fltplan does a good job of calculating wind effects at various altitudes, as long as you have set up your A/C performance correctly. It takes the cruise speed you've entered for your A/C at each altitude and uses it as the basis for the computation. I'm still dialing in my speed data -- right now it's still a bit of a guess. The nice thing about Fltplan.com is that it lets you do a "Quick Trip" estimate without entering all the parameters of a flight plan, and it will use your A/C performance. Another nice thing is that it lets you set up default east-bound and west-bound altitudes. This is the chart generated by the Quick Trip function, for the flight I tracked in my original post. It's using wind speeds for today, and I don't have historical info for windspeeds on my earlier flight. But, aside from that qualifier, fltplan looks like it's nailing the performance. And, to Parker's comments, today's winds show the same behavior of a steadily increasing component along my vector:

Antares -- I've been looking for something that will help with this task. It would need to run on an iPad -- doesn't do much good if it only runs on a desktop since winds change and I need to recalculate on the fly. (pun intended). Let me know if you want help testing or product managing - I've been through a whole bunch of SW lifecycles.

Heading west, I usually wish that 252BH had more power to better buck the headwinds. But coming back east, it's easy: fly as high as I can, up to FL210. Above that, I start to worry about O2 glitches popping up - they have a way of doing that. Recent trip back to Missouri from Flagstaff AZ, after a stop in Holbrook (P14) for cheap gas. I saw 330 MPH on the 796 for a few minutes, level. 70% power, and all CHTs below 380. Fuel burn, 14.5 GPH. TAS was 194-199 KTS. Of course, even with the tailwinds, I was still wishing for more power.

There's an app for that. http://www.l-3lynx.com/app.htm I think that, for folks on the path to comply with 2020 ADS-B, this is an interesting solution. I especially like the NGT9000R+, with is a fully remote model (MFD display only) and active traffic. However I can't find any details yet on which MFDs it's compatible with.

I agree that it probably does not show green on retraction. Not sure what it's supposed to do, possibly white as Hank says. But it's definitely not red/barber pole, if it's working properly, once the gear is fully retracted.

Hank - I believe I should be seeing something similar. I can't attest that I was getting a white indicator before (on successful retraction) - I'm embarassed to admit that I don't remember. However, I do know for certain that I wasn't getting the barber pole once the gear was up. So, I need to understand the causes for the barber pole state when the gear is retracted. I got new pucks at last annual, so presumably it's not that, although I'm interested in hearing how worn pucks would have contributed to this problem for you.

My floor indicator has a plexiglass cover over top of a sliding label that shows two states: safe (green) and unsafe (red cross hatches). This does appear to be mechanically activated, as mentioned above. EDIT: I'm going to amend my comment above. Per Hank's comment below, there could be three states: GREEN (gear down), RED BARBER POLE (in transition), WHITE (up). During transition, either extending or retracting, the red cross hatches will show. Once the operation is complete, and the gear is either fully extended or fully retracted, it should be fully green, or at least that's what I remember... I don't think I'm losing my mind yet. There is also a "gear unsafe" light on the panel that additionally lights up during transition - not seeing a problem with that. I had a cracked inner gear door activator - a little piece about 10" long, which I just had replaced. We did full swing tests etc to make sure the gear fully checked out about two weeks ago, and there were no issues. When I flew it again, I noticed this indicator state which I'm reasonably certain is new behavior. Based on the comments above, y'all have me thinking about it. I'll need to get back over to the hanger and look in the manual. I could have sworn it went green when retracted, to indicate that the transition completed. But then, there is also an argument that, when retracted, it should show red, indicating unsafe to land. So to speak. But by that logic, wouldn't it make sense for the panel light to also be red in that state? Anyone with an airframe from this era: if your gear is fully retracted, does the mechanical indicator show red or green?

On retraction, my gear unsafe indicator (on the floor) doesn't fully turn to green. I see just the beginning of the green line, mostly showing the red hatch. I did a flyover at the tower, to see if they could detect any gear door issues, and they reported the underside looked clean. There are no Issues on extension - the time to extend and all indicators are normal. What must happen for the indicator to go full green? I assume there is a pressure switch somewhere?

These are good points. I can't imagine not having cellular on my iPad Mini. I use foreflight to file all my plans, and to get weather often and right up to departure (in addition briefings from Flight Service.) This would be tough without cellular. Also, regarding memory, I had a dedicated Foreflight -only iPad with 16GB of memory. I kept about 10 states' data on there, with all the data except for IFR High. I fought a constant battle for space - always having to delete one or more states to make room for updates. Finally I gave up, gave that iPad to adeserving college student - a friend of the family - and got a 64GB version.

I have the mini retina on a yoke mount, with Foreflight. But that's co-pilot side. I have a Garmin 796 with a GDL-39 on my yoke. The Mini and 796 are about the same size. I like the 796 for its brighter graphics in sunlight, but it does run hot. I use the ipad/foreflight as my EFB, essentially, while the 796 functions as my moving map and WX source. I think the mini with foreflight is a good solution, and it's a great complement to a non-glass panel. Especially the Pro version so you can see your position on approach plates. Even if I'm vfr, I often use the final segments of an IFR approach to help find an unfamiliar runway.

I think we need to go south for our next run. How does Arkansas sound - is that more doable? We have at a Bonanza driver who is down that way. I don't have any cool places immediately in mind - open to suggestions. Somewhere around Hot Springs would be about right.

I'll add you to the list Don. We met last at Bolivar (M17) where they have a nice remodeled cafe and a great Saturday breakfast. I think it's about time to schedule another one...

Almost. :-)

I'm regularly flying back and forth between MO and the DFW area - I might be able to get you down to Dallas, and get Parker back home when the training is done.

Richard - Congratulations on the new bird. There are several of us in the area with Ks, Ovations, and Acclaims. We've started a very informal breakfast run every couple months or so - let me know if interested and I'll add you to the list.

Thanks, that's what I thought. I've got the vent tube identified. Now just gotta clear it.

I believe my left fuel tank vent is plugged up. I read that i may be able to free it up with some safety wire. Is the vent in the attached picture, about 12 inches outboard of the pitot tube?

Good to see you in the Mooney business, Neal. I hope things are going well for you.

That's probably the least expensive TKS bird on the market, of any make. ASO doesn't say if it's FIKI though - I assume not.

She's a real beauty, with a great useful load and a wonderfully clean, functional panel. If I were looking for a J I'd look very hard at this one. Sorry to hear that you're getting out of flying, and good luck with the sale!