kmyfm20s

Great idea on visiting Tracon! I haven't but heard their good about tours.

No I haven't and I need to try it on an actual IMC day I guess. I have filed and argued with clearance delivery that I wanted V317 with no success but that was on a VMC days and since it was VMC I didn't think to use the remarks area. I like to practice routes to know what to expect if I can. Great suggestion, thanks! Has anyone had success doing this in some similar fashion?

There are TEC routes but not going over the coastal mountains. The destination this week would be KIPL, KUDD, KLAS. All of them require crossing over the coastal mountains and with V66(9000') and others would put me in the muck. V317(7000') shown below would keep me out of it most of the time and get me to the east of the mountains and out of the weather.

I parked my plane today and had to drive because of the icing forecast:( I'm also going to a meeting in Las Vegas tomorrow which I was hoping to fly to and 2 other offices this week. Ouch reality! The coastal mountains here in San Diego make the MEA 9000' going east so an IFR flight is difficult for a couple of reasons during the winter. The first is because it usually put you at exactly the freezing level and the second is the clouds bunch up at the mountian and causing mountian obscuration with no ceiling to break out of in case of an engine out senerio. Even if I had FIKI TKS it would be a no go. There is 1 airway along the border, V317 which has a MEA of 7000' and would allow me to make this flight, eliminating the 2 mentioned problems. The problem is every time I file for V317 ATC denies it and put me on V66(9000') which makes it a no go for me. I wish I knew how to get them to accept the V317 route! I pretty sure it is because it crosses the approach path of KSAN. Does anyone know how to make it happen?

This was in my "J" and at the time I was debating if I should put an Aspen in, I wish I did. I don't recall the AI being 2K to overhaul but coincidentally my HSI was was off and had to have it serviced. By the time I was done with the HSI,2 AI's, vacuum pump and filter, I wasn't far off from an Aspen.

I would replace the vacuum at the same time, check the lines and put in a filter. I had my AI rebuilt then 20 hrs latter it failed again. I figured it would be covered under warranty but it wasn't. They said it was contamination most likely from carbon from the vacuum. Sure enough we where able to clean some dust out of the line and still had adequate vacuum levels.

Just curious, why did you buy it if you didn't feel you had a need for it? i don't know Don but have talked to him once. He seems to be an asset to the Mooney community. maybe his video is brought up more that some people like but is it really that big of deal? Return it and if he doesn't live up to his promise then let use know! His name will then be mud. I hate to chase off people that outside the forum I have only heard positive things about.

That could be in your Mooney arm rustling video you make:) I'll buy it to! Where did AndyfromCB go? You 2 could be in it together.

It's the AI or vacuum that's failing. When my AI failed I could still use the KAP autopilot by offsetting the heading bug in the opposite direction. When in NAV mode the offset being done internally. The lesson I learned is that a vacuum failure is not doom and gloom with the KAP when The IFR.

Make a good Mooney video and I would buy it for sure!

Are you this ruff on the kids selling lemonade in your neighborhood also?

Welcome!

KSEE has some amazing hangar homes. Look online there are a couple for sale.

I don't get why every internet news report includes photos of unrelated crashes in the articles. The first photo is correct but It confusing to see large passenger planes in other articles or in this case a video of them cleaning up the Alaska crash involving a Cessna. Never the less this crash has effected me because of my apprehension to fly my kids with me. I admired Houman taking his son with him and his postings encouraged to take them on a couple of trips with me. I am so happy the son survived!

Is a whale oil lantern out of the question or is that reserved for the 22nd century?:)

If a fragile filament, high heat out put and high energy usage where what was desirable in the 21st century, you would be right.

Changing landing and taxi lights on long bodies is a real PITA. I like flying with taxi lights on so when the first one burnt out I replaced them with LED's so I don't have to do it again. I haven't had the need to replace Nav lights but if I did I would prefer an LED option.

I been flying in the Southern California desert 15 years with temp reaching 118 this years. After 10 years of showing up to the office with a red face, sweat stained dress shirts and slacks I bought a ice cooler A/C unit. It helped a lot but it was inconvenient for the amount of flying I did to be running and picking up bags of ice every time I wanted cool air. It is true that when you get to 5000' AGL the air is much cooler but I will usually not turn it off until I'm at 7000' AGL. I was willing to give up the 65lbs of useful load and the 3-5 kts for something that made my flying that much more enjoyable. Now this being an El Niño year I'm sure I will be wishing I had TKS this winter. Although even with TKS, for me flying over the coastal mountain range with mountain obscuration would make it a no go unless I was high enough to glide to clear sky's. Great, now I need A/C, TKS and a parachute!

Great start to a new year!

I use mine all the time, love it! I fly all over the southwest and last summer seemed to have started early and ended late. I would call the factory they would be my first choice for installation. Second would be a MSC that has the most experience. I would estimate that you loose 5 kts with the scoops that hang out there. There are 2 hoses that run the length airplane. It believe it requires removing a couple of rivets to feed the hoses though. I had a mechanic accidentally puncher a hose and they replaced it. It was quite a process charging and adjusting it after that. If anyone is having problems with there units feel free to contact me. I kinda a pro at them. First off is to charge it by pressure not by amount after a complete vacuum on the system. There is a typo in the service manual which states 3.2lbs of r134 it should be 2.3lbs. Also if you have had a puncher like I did or a sudden lose of pressure it require estimating the amount oil in the system which will potentially change your charge levels. If your units not blowing cold air or is spitting ice at you you need to adjust the expansion, this will also affect your charge level. If you are overcharged or have any air in the system it will kick off the high pressure switch and blow warm air.

Looks like the weather on the 10th is holding up so far.

The Mooney formation clinics are a lot of fun and I highly recommend them! I think the Yuma clinic is coming up soon, I'm planning on going again. I made this video when I was in the right seat of my first formation flight. I made it so I could review and learn from it. There is a lot of go narrative and explanation in it. It's also posted on the Mooney caravan site. http://youtu.be/BdAE-fvFKsA

That is a pretty amazing piece of equipment. Is that you presenting in the video? How many have you restored and what do you do with them when your finished?

I see it is up for sale as a previous factory demonstrator. Do you think it was a group vote or an individual decision to paint it like that? I trying to figure out how you could even work with the existing scheme to not have repaint the entire plane.

I think that orange Accliam is up for sale. I kinda like it!