mikerocosm

Jose, Thanks for the tip! I'm going to give this a try later this week. It's great to see alternative views and procedures that have the ring of sense offered in this forum. After all, my POH was written 50 years ago, and experience since then has led to many new ways of doing things. Some work for me, some don't. My AOA improved my landing technique, as did what I learned from viewing Don's video disc. If this helps even a little, sometimes, then it's worth keeping in mind. Thanks again!

I'd bet that Jerry at Brittain in Tulsa ( www.brittainautopilots.com ) has a box of those things on his bench, or can at least point you somewhere. I'd give him a call at 918-836-7701.

Same experience with me, except my wife still uses the Zulus. (She's rarely in the Mooney long enough for much of anything to be a problem.) Halos are great, and Phil's service is great. I've never heard of anyone being disappointed. They give you an inexplicable sense of brilliant clarity of received voices and just enough environmental sensation to stay in touch with your airplane.

I've never tried a traditional headset with my hearing aids, but I would expect problems, because of the way these things work (feedback and noise cancelling sounds like a no-win). I just remove mine and insert the Halos. The guy who makes Halos (Dr. Phil McCandless, Mooney owner) is an audiologist, and could probably explain exactly what's going on. I would contact him for the expert opinion. http://www.quiettechnologies.com

Dr. Brinkley's is one of seven (or so . . . who knows what's in some of those unopened hangars?) Mooneys based at our home airport of Pogue, here at Sand Springs. Taking off either way (but especially to the South), there's really nowhere to aim but among trees unless you can get over at least 600 feet or so so you can make the highway or the river if heading south, or an open small but better-than-the-trees field off to the left going north. What happened to Dr. Brinkley's Mooney remains a mystery. He was apparently having engine trouble, did manage to call in a Mayday, and was immediately pursued by airplane (a local CFI in a 172, located him and circled overhead) and truck (the airport manager jumped in his truck, drove to where he could see the 172 circling overhead, then bushwhacked through the woods until he located Dr. Brinkley). The pair of CFI and manager remained on station until rescue folks arrived, at which time Dr. Brinkley was extracted from the Mooney. These are the facts as related to me by the CFI and the airport manager following the events, so it's all second-hand information, but I presume it to be accurately reported, given the nature of the individuals involved. The airport manager runs the tightest little operation I've seen of it's kind, maintaining a beautiful airport with inexpensive fuel, great facilities, and a warm and welcoming atmosphere. We do love our Mooneys here, and we suspect that Dr. Brinkley will find another and be back in the air soon. We hope so.

First things first: Rock Chalk, brother! Ditto on rear location shown by Piloto; low and outboard on the panel for the front. Good luck!

Or, you could fly out there (KAVK), park right next to their building, and get a tour of the factory. When I did, they even gave me a really nice hat! And the people are super nice. (No worries about engine failure, by virtue of you can land just about anywhere . . . just watch out for fences.) mws out

I'll echo what Peter is saying, and go a bit further . . . It's no big trick to make one of these things from a device readily available on eBay, with a little bit of wire added to jump a couple of connections (I thank Peter for his help to me in getting this right the first time.). For a little while, I was tempted to go with Phil's pre-wired unit just because I figured he'd support it, but apparently the self-reliance I eventually fell back on (as a confirmed CB) served me better than Phil would have. mws out

And if there's a rush to unload these things, here's a second buyer for the Altitude Hold system, but Cliffy's first, fair is fair . . . mws out

For the record, any SIM should work just fine, Verizon, AT&T, whatever, but T-Mobile has the virtue of being very inexpensive for a paid-ahead (but must be renewed every three months) card. The same setup would still be required, though. A wi-fi switch would be a very different box. mws out

I built my own "switchbox," and then promptly forgot just about everything related to how it works, so I have to go through the whole thing mentally every time something goes awry; but as I recall, the account setup issue is that voicemail needs to be turned off entirely, which means the SIM card needs to be installed in a cell phone long enough to get at the account with a device that has keys. As I recall, I did this at the T-Mobile store, with the help of some of their personnel, who were able to load my shiny new SIM into a phone they had at the store and call up the mother ship and turn off the voice-mail-rollover function for that number. Then everything worked fine. The biggest hassle for me is reactivating a dead account (because I have to revisit all the details I've forgotten), so I have a reminder set to reload the account with $10 worth of calls (way more than I actually use) a few days before the three-month life of the card expires. Carrying the account through the months I don't use the device at all is way less expensive than going through all this stuff every autumn. Good luck!

Before: After: Space on right for Ram mount, used for iPad, GoPro, whatever. Good luck!

Either way, it sounds like your battery is on the slippery slope to failure . . . Best wishes, M

+1 for Bob Cabe. He delivered my Mooney (from All American), spent three days showing me how to operate it properly, and I felt pretty good about it all. His rate was reasonable, and the training thorough and no-nonsense. Good luck!

If you wander over to the airport at Sand Springs (KOWP, one of the best-kept aviation secrets in the area), you'll find that six or seven Mooneys live there, mostly older models, including at least a couple of E-types (including mine). There's also a sort-of-resident A&P/IA who works on most of them and is quite knowledgeable. While I'm not exactly mentor material, I'd be happy to talk to you sometime.

The issue is not likely 64-bit, it's the serial interface. I'm on my second 64-bit laptop retrieving data from my EDM-700, and I just plug in the JPI-provided cable to the provided EDM-700 port, then plug the serial-port end of that cable into a Keyspan by Tripp Lite USA-19HS USB-to-serial adapter, then plug the USB end into my laptop, and it all works great. (I tried a couple of other adapters, and for reasons beyond my willingness to figure out, they didn't work, but this one did.) You can find one of these adapters on Amazon or probably lots of other places. They cost $32 or so. Not CB-conforming, but it works. Good luck!

I use exactly one pair of glasses/sunglasses for flying/driving/everything else outdoors, and these are clear, unshaded, lined trifocals (which I've needed for years, and of which I get the so-called flat-top 10x35s, but executive-style is great if all you need is bifocals) behind flip-up dark lenses mounted on springs and held down by magnets in the Scheyden Dual-Rx Titanium frames. These are still rigid and have shown no problems after four or five years of daily use. The prescription lenses can be updated as needed, assuring that you can see the panel as well as possible, and being able to just flip the sunglass part out of the way as needed is pure gold. You lose no visual acuity, even for a second, but you can see your iPad on your lap, or accommodate a turn into the sunset or whatever with a simple flip with your finger. Regular glasses for inside, the Scheydens for outside, especially for flying and driving. I really like them and I've been very happy with the quality, and the service from Scheyden. This is not a paid recommendation, but do tell them I sent you. Mike

Back when he first offered the service, and my engine monitor (JPI EDM-700) was new to me, I subscribed for a year, giving me (I think) five analyses covered under the subscription payment. I used three of them, I think. One just submits downloaded files from the engine monitor, noting what was going on at key points in the flight that's been recorded, hopefully to include a few passes of the so-called GAMI lean test and at least one good in-flight mag check., all done according to procedures you can find by reading or listening to Mike's EAA webinars and/or reading John Deakins' AvWeb articles. The analysis is good, and the folks that provide it are responsive to follow-up questions. At some point, you should probably begin to get a feel for what you're looking at on those data dumps, and probably only need the professional analysis to confirm what you already suspect. And then, of course, as you tune in your engine so that it runs perfectly, there should be nothing to see that's anomalous until something goes wrong, and by then you'll be so good at interpreting the data yourself, you won't need Savvy anymore. I think it was $125 for a year (back then), but you should check their web site. As part of the learning process, it's absolutely worth it. As Derek Bok said, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Good luck! mws out

Our fabulous little airport has about 70 airplanes living here, about 25 of which are flown regularly, and I think seven of them are Mooneys, maybe eight. The oldest is an "A", there are a couple of "C"s, three "E"s, and the other(s?) are newer. mws out

I'm with Yves: I stick it on the outside, lower-right of the passenger window, mere inches from the door handle. I just stuck on a new one after peeling off the old one that had been there for three years, so I'm thinking they won't come off without extraordinary stress, which I strive to avoid. mws out

Start by shutting down the engine while idling smoothly at 1100 RPM. When ready to restart, don't move anything, but position your hand on the mixture knob. Press the starter and be prepared to advance the mixture smoothly (and quickly) when the engine catches, which in my case is usually in about two blades. Works almost every time, and if not, go to flooded start procedure. Good luck! Mike

My CYA 100 has been installed for over a year, and my approaches are made more slowly now, with confidence that I won't end up in the weeds. It works well, is dirt simple to calibrate, and the support is terrific. Mike

We hear a lot of Chinese student pilots on our radios around here, and two things cross my mind when I hear them: 1) the patience of the controllers dealing with them, and 2) The drive it must take to learn to fly while also learning to speak and read a new language. I think about what it would be like to go to China to learn to fly, speaking only Chinese, and -- perhaps most intimidating -- reading Chinese. These are people who don't take at all for granted that which comes -- by virtue of our winning the birth lottery -- easily to English-speaking north americans.

I really love mine. I installed it when I re-did my panel a year ago, and it sits right in front of my face at the top of the panel. It goes pretty much unnoticed until the lights come on. My pattern turns are slower now, with confidence. It's worth noting that the customer service from Rip Quinby (the designer/maker) is terrific.

If you have Brittain autopilot components beyond the stock PC system, I might be interested . . . mws out