Bob - S50

There are four of us that own the plane. We started with the POH checklists but shortened them. We mostly kept items that could result in damage or an injury if skipped. And we kept a few things that could make life much harder IMC if skipped. We then printed the resulting checklists and stuck them to the panel above our radio stacks so we can reference them hands free. With that said, what I do depends on who I'm with. I always do a flow first. On the ground, I then read the checklist to confirm I got everything. In the air, the only time I use the checklist is when my wife is with me. She reads it and I respond.

T37 as an instructor, but even that wasn't very close. The student called "final turn gear down touch and go." Gear was up. In the T37 the instructor could mash a button on the stick that would prevent the student from hearing what was being transmitted over the radio. I did that, told the RSU we were gear up and to send us around on short final. They did. Student realized his mistake when he went to raise the gear on go around. I've been lucky. So far, 7344 landings, only 105 of which were in a fixed gear airplane, and thousands more landings watching either the student, Captain, or First Officer make the landing. Kind of ingrained to put the gear down at this point. Remembering to advance the prop control, mixture control, or adjust the cowl flaps? Not quite so ingrained. Still trying to build habit patterns.

The OP was referring to long term storage. For day to day, there are many reasons that drive our decisions about how much fuel to leave in the tanks. We (4 partners) park the plane with 30-35 gallons because that gives the next pilot more payload flexibility and still provides enough fuel to fly for at least 2 hours before they need to stop for gas. If I never flew with more than 3 people, I would probably let fuel price drive my decision. Or I might let a combination or flexibility and ease of fueling drive my decision and fuel it to the 50 gallon tabs. To each their own.

I suspect that the reason we only have one indicator is that all three gear are mechanically connected. Barring a hardware failure, if one is down, all of them are down. With most other airplanes, the gear is hydraulically actuated so there is a much greater chance of an individual gear failing. With a hydraulic system you can have a pressure failure, one of (at least) three actuators failing, electrical sequencing failure, or an indicator failure. With ours, except in an extremely rare case, either they are all up or all down. Watch the gear come up or down on a Cessna, Piper, or Rockwell. The gear comes up in fits and pieces. I'm happy with our system. Don't forget about the United DC8 that ran out of fuel over Portland because they thought they had a gear failure when all they really had was a light bulb failure.

The indicator for takeoff trim on my J is not a mark, it is a band (or range) of trims. I think the POH is just telling us that we should not blindly put the trim into the middle of the band each time. It is telling us that it can vary from top to bottom of the band depending on CG. It is also telling us that if loaded within the allowable CG, takeoff trim should be somewhere in that range.

We've had our plane for 4 years now. It's a '78 and has never been re-sealed. No leaks. We fill it to 30 - 35 gallons (out of 64) before putting it away for the day. Just for a third "I read it on the internet so it must be true", I heard that it was the fumes that kept the sealant from drying out.

In our J... Using 1/2 flaps for takeoff and takeoff trim set at the TOP of the takeoff band, it takes a significant amount of back pressure (10 pounds?) to lift the nose to get airborne. However, once airborne the trim is about right and I don't really notice any pitch change as I clean up. However, there is a very significant trim change required between 1/2 and full flaps. For that reason I plan to start using 1/2 flaps for my landings as well but have not done that yet. Something to keep in mind. Here is a quote from our POH, "If forward CG set trim to upper portion of band and to lower portion when at aft CG." So make sure when you only have people up front that the trim indicator is at the top of the band. As a side note, if I do not hold any back pressure as I roll down the runway, above about 50 KIAS, the plane gets very light in the feet and will tend to skip sideways in a crosswind. However, if I hold a considerable amount of back pressure, about what it takes to get airborne, it helps keep the feet on the ground until it is ready to fly.

Hey, I've seen that KingAir. Last May. He was departing as I was arriving from the north. I had him in sight and we talked to each other to deconflict. I'll be back again in September this year.

I've got relatives in Boulder and last May we flew there to visit. Got in about 1700. Guess we were lucky, no TRW south of Laramie. We went to LMO. Longer runway. Instrument approach. Cheaper gas. Cheaper parking (may even waive all or part if you buy gas). Further from the mountains so less turbulence. Still a short drive to Boulder. If someone is coming to pick you up, tell them not to believe their GPS directions. It will most likely tell them to take Airport Rd north and have them turn left on St. Vrain Rd. Wrong. Have them take Airport Rd north, when they are looking down the runway, have them take the FIRST left they come to. There is a bit of a monument there. The road will parallel a ditch and seem like they are driving behind a bunch of hangars. The road will eventually turn left and lead them to the parking lot for the FBO. Ask me how I know.

A couple responses to replies. 1. Ya, it might take a couple flights to get it set up, but nothing says you have to get it perfect. Once you get it close, you can just know that stall occurs a bit before or after the line between the red and white sections. 2. As far as I can tell, ALL the GA AOA systems use the two hole differential pressure method of determining AOA. 3. I don't care if it is heated or not. My plane is not FIKI, I have no intention of flying in icing conditions, and stall AOA will change anyway if I'm collecting ice. 4. I like it specifically because of the display. As I said before, if I were to get one of the fancy looking, LED lighted displays, there are a finite number of readings as one LED turns on or off. With a needle on an analog display, there are an infinite number of readings. As far as I'm concerned, about the only thing that would make the display better would be if it came with a kit that let me take the glass off, put some marks on the face, and put the glass back on. Edit: I'm more into function over form, not form over function.

I did an Angel Flight last week. The weather wasn't good enough for IFR (icing potential) so we went VFR and stayed below the weather.

Sorry I should have been more clear. I know lots of people have an AOA and have given a pirep, but I meant has anyone installed the LIFT AOA.

Just saw this advertised in the latest issue of AOPA Pilot. LIFT AOA I know there are more than a couple people here who love AOA indicators. While I'm not in a hurry to install one, if my partners decided they want one, this would probably be my choice. Inexpensive: $389 I think it could be mounted on an inspection panel. I like the analog display which gives an infinite number of readings. I like the gauge because it has several reference marks along the arc. Through experimenting I could determine the best needle position (AOA) for final approach with full flaps, half flaps, no flaps (final airspeed), best glide (engine out), and Carson's number (my current planned climb speed). Anybody have one installed already? Bob

Here is a quote from our GTN650 manual and I assume the same applies to the GTN750. "CAUTION: Not all autopilots will follow guidance when on a heading leg using NAV, GPSS, or APR mode on the autopilot. Heading legs for procedures can be identified by “HDG XXX°” in white on the Flight Plan page, as well as the procedure chart indicating that the aircraft must fly a particular heading. Certain autopilots will revert to a “Roll Only” or “Wings Level” mode on these leg types and the pilot must engage the heading (HDG) mode of the autopilot and set the heading bug appropriately in order to use the autopilot on these legs." And I assume you mean the Hold In Lieu of Procedure Turn holding pattern. When entering a holding pattern, we turn to a heading, not a course.

And look for blue steaks indicating a fuel leak. Although, if the owner is smart but not necessarily honest, they will have washed those off.

I'd second that. We have a KFC200 and I won't let it fly past the FAF. Usually does OK on an LPV approach but not the ILS. It tends to over correct. The only thing I use the autopilot for is enroute cruise. So all you really need is an autopilot that will track a course and hold an altitude. Also, keep in mind, there are two experiment autopilots that will probably soon be approved for certified aircraft and can be installed for under $10,000.

You might check Chief Aircraft in Grants Pass, Oregon. The RG-35A is $289.50, includes ground shipping to the lower 48, and no sales tax.

Having worked for an airline, and being practical, I see a problem with not removing the Dr. They offered money and could not get enough volunteers. They used their sorting system and picked 4 individuals. The Dr. refused to leave as instructed. I see many future problems if he was not forced to leave and even more problems now that United will not use security/police to remove uncooperative passengers. Will they also not use them to remove disruptive passengers? It is a violation of federal law to disobey the orders of a crew member of to interfere with the performance of their duties. If I remember right, it is punishable with up to 1 year in prison and a $10,000 fine. At Northwest we used to carry a card with that information on it that could be given to the individual to read. 1. They have just taught the entire flying public that if they don't want to get off the plane, they don't have to. United will not remove them by force. How else can they make you get off if you refuse to leave? 2. If they will not use police to remove them, that leaves employees. Does United want the flight crew or gate agents to drag them off the plane? Put their own employees at risk? 3. That being the case, here is how I would handle it if I were the Captain under those conditions. First, I would inform the non-cooperative passenger that they were violating a federal law if they did not comply with instructions. If that didn't work, I would get on the PA and explain the situation to the passengers. I would explain in full detail how we arrived at this point and that the 4th selected passenger refuses to leave. I would then explain that the airplane will not leave the gate, and nobody will get to their destination until one more person agrees to get off the plane. If anyone wants to cooperate, please contact a crew member. If nobody will cooperate, I would proceed as below. 4. In the case of a disruptive passenger, if I could not have the police escort them off the plane, I would be forced to coordinate deplaning ALL passengers and all their luggage. Once everyone was off the plane (if they actually complied without police presence) then we could board the plane again while excluding the disruptive passenger(s). See the problem with not allowing police to use force?

We fly a J, but the same principals apply. For short flights (less than about 250 miles), for saving gas, it doesn't really matter what altitude you choose. The fuel you save with a higher TAS at altitude will be wasted climbing to get to altitude. Probably less than a gallon difference no matter what altitude you pick. Ride matters. Pick a smooth altitude and enjoy the ride instead of bumping along. In the summer, somewhere around 5 or 6 thousand AGL will usually do it. Winds matter. If you can find an altitude that is more favorable wind wise by even 5 knots, it's worth changing altitude. I'm becoming a believer in windytv.com to help me with those decisions. I'll leave it to MAPA and guys that own a C to tell you about power settings.

Don't have them. Don't need them. However, there are times they would be nice, but for me, that's only when terrain is a factor that prevents a long gradual descent. After 20 years flying the DC9 I got pretty good at "unable". At the airlines, if I used speed brakes it meant I had wasted gas (I could have come to idle sooner instead). I especially feel the same way now that I'm paying for the gas.

Call Gary at Spencer's at KPLU. They did the GTX345 install in our plane for $6000 including a couple hundred dollars credit for our KT76A. When we were shopping we also asked for a bid from PCA and theirs was the same as Gary's, but Gary was closer if we ever needed to take it in for issues. PCA got to the price because they have no sales tax. Gary got to the price by charging fewer hours of labor and a lower hourly rate.

I don't have an Ovation, but that sounds more like a max 'full fuel' payload weight. The difference in those two weights would be equal to about 85 gallons of fuel. I would always trust a POH over some app I downloaded.

I don't know where you live, but don't buy fuel from them. Nothing says you have to park the plane with a full tank. We park our 64 gallon tank with 30 - 35 gallons on purpose. I can almost always tanker enough fuel to get home with that much still left on board. I always take that into consideration when I decide where to buy fuel. I also consider how much extra gas I have to buy if I stop on the way home for fuel. This week I'm flying an Angel Flight from S50 (Auburn, WA) to KBLI (Bellingham, WA) then back to KBFI (Boeing Field), then home to S50. Fuel at home is $5.01. I have enough gas to fly the entire route with my starting 30 gallons. My plan is to fly from KBFI to KRNT (Renton) on the way home. It is a 5 mile flight and not out of the way to do that. With the Angel Flight/Phillips 66 gas discount, I'll buy gas at a net $3.85. I'll burn less than 1 gallon extra to do that.

But there is a utility available on the GTN equipment that lets you enter parameters and it will calculate the winds for you. Or you can do what I do and use the SWAG (scientific wild ass guess) method. For every mile/minute TAS, one degree of wind drift will cancel out the same number of knots of crosswind. That is, at 150 KTAS (2.5 NM/minute), one degree of wind drift will cancel out 2.5 knots of crosswind. So if I have 6 degrees of drift correction, I'm fighting 15 knots of crosswind. You can then compare you TAS and groundspeed to estimate how far off the wing it is. Then you can use some rough trigonometry values to figure out the wind. Of course, you have to be a nerd like me.

Sort of. 1. ALWAYS call before you go. Ask about fuel prices and fees. I wish FBO's would be forced to publish their fees on line so we can make an informed decision without needing to make a phone call. 2. When I do an Angel Flight to the Spokane area, I try to avoid GEG (the main airport) like the plague and much prefer to land at SFF downtown. Spokane is a Class C area. There are no ramp fees at SFF, and they sell Phillips 66 gas (rebate available for Angel Flight) for a lower price per gallon. When I called GEG (Signature) about an Angel Flight and asked about ramp fees, it was going to be about $35 - $50 for a pickup even when they knew it was an Angel Flight. I simply will never fly into GEG.