Cyril Gibb

I'm envious. Can't ride with the ice, snow and frozen mud chunks on the shoulders. Can't ski after the freezing rain clobbered the trails. Can't fly with the never-ending icing and low ceilings. All I have left to do is work through the "honey do" list. She-who-must-be-obeyed is happy. Me, not so much.

Had the door open in cruise due to an incorrectly adjusted latch when I picked up my plane initially. VERY loud and stayed an inch or so open 'til we stopped for fuel. No attempts including a side slip at stall speed could get it latched again. FYI, if you're in instrument conditions at stall speed with crossed controls to slip and the copilot forces the door way open in order to slam it shut, the plane will drop a wing to vertical extremely quickly. Not recommended. Just sayin'

I didn't know the connection 'til I just Googled it. On the other hand, the psychic telemarketers @ 4.95 a minute is probably close to the repairs/upgrades/hangar/insurance/annuals/other variable costs per minute my Gladys needs.

Night VFR in Canada is allowed, but requires either an IFR rating or a "night endorsement" which includes additional hood time. This feels too close to home. It wasn't long ago we were messaging about cell phone switches. Makes me start to think long and hard about the risks we take even with a cautious approach to maintenance and preparation.

The girlfriend didn't like me calling it the mistress, so she named the plane Gladys. C-GNPP ..... if you're old enough to have been a Motown fan, you'll get it (poetic license with the "K")

In Canada, CS props have to be overhauled every 10 years regardless of hours. If it's a 1995, then that makes sense... rebuild in 2005 and another just now at 2015.

This post will probably put me on a list somewhere, but I've never had Canadian Border people even come out to the plane. I phone in my arrival and get an arrival verification # along with a have a nice day. The US border services have always checked only passports (so far) along with a geiger counter inspection of the plane. Do they actually believe that somebody would file a flight plan, get eAPIS approval in advance, arrange with customs for arrival time and location and be talking to a controller, all with the intent to smuggle in a nuclear weapon?

We visited Montreal last week. I'd recommend St Hubert (CYHU). It's just as close, if not closer, to downtown as CYUL and less expensive. Use Pascan Aviation as the FBO. Really helpful people and $15Cdn per night, with the first night waived if you buy 40 or so Gals. Fuel price is the best of the FBOs on the field. If you're as frugal and adventuresome as we are, there's also public transit. On the way back, when we got off the bus and trundled across the parking lot a monster stretch SUV pulled up for the Cirrus parked next to us.... chacun à son goût. We have favourite restaurants if you want some suggestions.... Houman would also

The failure of the stem at the tube is usually due to the tire/tube combo rotating as a result of too low pressure. Bikes (or planes) don't have the benefit of rim locks as found on motorcycles. I don't use the valve stem nuts on my bikes. If the tube is rotating, I can see the stem cocked slightly before it gets to the point of tearing.

Yves, We just changed our plans. Going to Montreal for a couple of days tomorrow morning (St. Hubert). Need to be back to winterize the cottage this weekend and get ready for cross-country ski season. Nice being retired. Flexibility plus.

Unfortunately, my IFR training is going way beyond what I thought I'd need to get it done, so VFR it is.

Thinking of a couple of days of French immersion. Any recommendations or warnings for FBOs at Quebec/ Lesage (CYQB) ? Or maybe we should just head to Neuville (CNV9) ?

I have been doing some reading re: vibration. Mooney SB M20-206 talks about reclocking the prop to reduce vibration. Additionally, there is a bunch of recommendations from other type specific sites about reclocking. Even the Skyranch recommendation is consistent with the others. It seems that the current prop clocking was traditional based on the need to hand prop, but doesn't optimise (non-US spelling) the orientation that minimizes vibration. Apparently, orienting the prop parallel to the #1 crankthrow should be best. Has anyone done the M20-206 Service Bulletin ? Did it make any difference ? Has anyone done the recommended prop reclocking to any other engine model with success, or not ?

Saga was end of 2013 to Jan 2014. I often wonder if that plane was brought back from the brink with large amounts of TLC and $$, or if it was bought by some unsuspecting buyer looking for a bargain.

N201EF was instructional for me. I went down to fly it. Flew great, GNS430, low time roller tappet engine. Not bad paint and interior. I paid to have it flown to Canada for a pre-purchase and expected to continue to an annual. After a VERY short look we found many many issues including terminal spar corrosion. Not repairable (other than a wingectomy) and not airworthy. The cost to find that out was several AMUs. A fraction of what it would have been had the sale gone through. Don't go cheap on a thorough pre-purchase.

I bought my Reiff switch through Aircraft Spruce (Canada) last year. Give them a call because they usually will get stuff not ordinarily available here in Canada if prodded. It takes a standard SIM. The least expensive plan I found is Petro-Can. It's not text only, but they have a prepaid plan that will carry you through the winter... much cheaper than signing up for a monthly. Currently the price is $25 for a prepaid plan lasting for 4 months. That will give you 2500 text messages that should be enough

That makes more sense..... it wasn't the wine after all

Maybe I shouldn't be appending during my 2nd glass of wine..... How/why are the EGTs peaking during an increase in fuel flow? Maybe I should just hit the sack and call it a day.....

I put one of these together last night to use on my US trips. Great reception even at circuit altitude at Kitchener. Managed to get three towers at 1000' agl about 80 NM away across Lake Ontario. The price in Canada for a Stratus would be about $1400 Cdn (maybe more if duty has to be paid)..... $109 including tax is what the Stratux parts were here.

The final report is an interesting (long) read. Bottom line is that a decision to take off was made by "management" over the strident objections of the engineers. The continued deterioration of the booster o-rings interface, particularly during cold weather, was a known problem that in previous takeoffs was already way beyond the design and safety specifications. somebody's bonus was more important than a few lives.

Learn to recognise (and avoid) poison ivy

That's the first I've heard of that. Where? cabin? Tailcone? And what year?

VNE is based on IAS and is established to limit overstressing due to load factor. Flutter speed is based on TAS. Two separate limits. First one is in the POH and TCDS. The second isn't. The next question is the TAS that can induce flutter in various flavours of Mooneys.

I would hate to live my life feeling that need. That's after living and working throughout Europe and north/central/south America. It must be awful to be constantly looking over your shoulder.

I had the same problem last year with my new-to-me M20F. Lubing the shafts made little to no difference. Clarence and his guys did a thorough lube of all the the control spherical joints with special attention to the dual bungee assemblies. One additional item Clarence noted creating some friction was the orientation of the washers on the bungee assembly (there's a flat on the washers that have to be rotated correctly to avoid binding). When we started, lifting or depressing the elevator and letting go would have the elevator almost but not quite return to neutral. After the lube/fix, the elevator does 2-3 bounces and always settles to neutral. My landings improved immediately.