MB65E

I hope this hotel is there forever. They really nailed it! They renovated the old hotel and made the Connie into a really nice lounge in terminal 5. It’s the entire airplane with ground handling equipment and everything. Highly impressive being the airplane nut I am!! I had some time to kill and checked it out. The fact that the general public can see the thing for free is really neat. Worth the AirTrain inter terminal train ride. Awesome! -Matt

Well he’s probably using it as an excuse to not overhaul engines or do a major inspection. So it makes no sense to spend 500k on engines, 50k-100k on a transponder install, and then a 75k inspection on a jet that might only be worth 350k to start with. Off it goes. A lot of older current charter airplanes will not do the upgrade. But most of the ADSB transponders for jets have wild approval process’s. Most everything is installed via an STC. The way the wiring and integration is set up... you just can’t slap in a new transponder and go fly like we can in our M20s.

I’ve had really great luck with them. Yes you do need to trim them down to get the baffling to fit correctly but I have never seen them leak if torqued properly. They require 1/2 the torque and are installed on every Lycoming I work on. However, I’ll agree that on some TCM 550’s that they not the best fit and I would run cork gaskets on them. Seems simple enough task, I feel it would still require a log entry. -Matt

I’ve seen that in the past but can’t find the reference. The FAA allows antique aircraft to have the 2 in numbers. However, even their own definition of Antique is weak or non existent. I’ve seen both 50yo, and prior to 1945 quotes. Can you provide the CFR for the 30yo aircraft? All I’m after is less paint and tape one day... -Matt

100% Paul!! Not worth the potential for rejecting takeoffs. Run ups post MX are always fine, right up until you push the power up for take off. -Matt

That stuff is great!! It’s consistent between cans. MEK doesn’t even dull it when it’s dry. That’s the best rattle can I can think of. Matches my white better than the paint shop that “matched” my polyurethane. -Matt

Funny that it’s called a “raised chicken head knob.” They have them in glow in the dark too!! Great idea!! -Matt

Run the wire and be done. Make the guy happy and don’t call him again. I have yet to see the need to turn off ADSB. -Matt

The Malibu owners group has a nice free FRAT tool ap that I use from time to time. It’s fairly accurate. MMOPA-FRAT Most corporate operators have a risk assessment tool associated with a safety management. Its all about mitigating risk. It’s surprising how fast the fact of the flight stack against you. All it takes to brake the chain is to say no to one of them. I wouldn't fault you decisions, as it sounds like you are mitigating risks well and you are comfortable doing so. -Matt

I would try some medieval bleeding action first. My left brake is always hard to bleed properly. Pressure pot with a clear line exiting the reservoir is my next trial. -Matt

Some of the later Mooney’s had some strange inline fuses that drove me crazy one summer. -Matt

Replace the CB and send the VR to Don. -Matt

It’s actually is factory. Many are lost or not installed correctly. It actually helps air not back flow through the back of the cooler. That’s why there is an STC to relocate it to the back of the engine. High pressure air can flow through the back of the cooler from the top of the engine. The plate keeps the air moving down and aft. Still a poor design, but if removed, I fear your oil temp would be worse. Feel free to try it. Ours was missing for years and I never did flight tests before and after. Now with your -900 you can get some data points. Personally I would like to duct the exit to the left cowl cheek panel, however I did the math and the exit area to work would be larger than a 3 in hose.... there’s not room for a 3in hose currently. -Matt

Don can turn them quickly. If it’s the Mooney dual voltage regulator. Don was the only one that I found that fixes them. -Matt

It’s glued to the mounting pad. Remove the unit any you’ll see it. -Matt

My guess is that Mooney was already a well designed. Roy did help with the 201, but I imagine Piper needed more help and that’s where the late model pipers came to be. They had much more to improve upon. I Really love the Swift, just didn’t have an efficient wing on it. It’s the coolest fastest looking slowest airplane there is. The Marchetti 260TP is really neat too but even with all that HP, it’s not that fast. It would be really neat to see a Allison 250 on a J model. You’d need a lot of gas, and it would probably become only a 2pl airplane. There’s a guy in Austria that has a Allison 250 on a 360 sized Lancair. Looks amazing!!! Never knew about the Swift Fire. Thanks for sharing. Sorry I was a little off Locher airfield in Italy. SS508, 16, 39058 Sarntal, Südtirol, Italy Not exactly a Lancair either. :-). -Matt

Wow! Two broken Tompson parts in one thread. I’ve never heard of that! I have them on my Waltworks 29” -Matt

Welcome Gary! Where are you located? -Matt

That’s understandable as I’ve seen about 5 wing tip scrapes of lower skins on m20’s. My left wing tip I noticed some scuffed skin at the tip that was painted over in the 90’s. -Matt

Good deal, I’d be Interested in pricing to confirm the rates have fallen. So a new superior case without roller lifters can still be had? Thanks! -Matt

I’ve found the cam locks hold the door tighter than the hartzell latches. I’ve replaced my hinge with an extruded hinge vs a simple piano hinge. It added some strength in door. -Matt

Those F104s have Dynons installed!! So cool! looks like a nice cockpit. Interested in the shuttle on the right side of the runway as well. -Matt

It all happens really fast in a jet. There is a point where one can’t fix it in the jet as you could a single. That’s why planning is so important. Nice hearing the gouge from some of you Gents. Just ordered the Navy book. Another good book is “Everything explained for the professional pilot” Learned a little bit about winds and sloped runways with my dads 75hp T-Craft. Taking off with a tail down hill slope is almost a requirement. There is not enough HP as mentioned to out climb the trees. Landing is just as bad, unless it’s really windy, gravity always wins. Landing down hill in a t-craft (aka glider) doesn’t work either. -Matt

I’ve seen the airplane on the VNY ramp. It sat outside near our hangar all summer. Kinda sad, lots of TLC required, but still salvageable in its present condition I’d imagine. -Matt

Art, Most antennas are white from the factory and common practice is not to paint them. I’ve also seen G550s with every thing hanging off painted. Some manufactures have guidance on not painting antennas. I believe metallic paint on an antenna Will degrade its performance. -Matt