Bob - S50

I'm not an expert but I may be a know-it-all. With that in mind... 1. I agree. Ask the mechanic why LOP ruined the cylinder. I'll bet he can't explain it, that's just what he believed. 2. Here is a link to a John Deakin article on what causes burnt valves (hint, it isn't LOP): http://www.avweb.com/news/pelican/182155-1.html 3. Here is a link to a Mike Busch webinar about cylinder failure (hint, it isn't LOP): http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=1204537102001 From what I've learned, LOP will not cause cylinder or exhaust valve failure unless you do so improperly at high power settings. That is, power settings above about 75%. Even then, you can run LOP if you know what you are doing. In high power situations (takeoff and initial climb), running not rich enough or not lean enough (in between) can cause detonation or even worse, pre-ignition. But that won't cause early cylinder failure, that will cause engine destruction. I prefer to reserve LOP for ground and cruise operations. According to what I've read, running ROP can cause burnt valves, and here is a summary of why. Again, this is what I remember, learn for yourself. Exhaust valves get burnt because they do not seat properly or because they cannot transfer heat from the valve to the head adequately. Normally, hot exhaust gases flow past the valve only 25% of a 4 stroke cycle. The other 75% is spent getting rid of most of the built up heat through contact with the head. If a valve does not seat properly, hot gases will leak past it which not only prevents it from cooling properly, but may actually be adding to the heat at the location of the leak. Why to valves not seat properly? Improper manufacturing in which the valve guide is not quite aligned with the seat. Warped head from too much heat Warped valve from too much heat Carbon build up on the valve or seat. This can only occur when running ROP since there are not unburnt fuel molecules when running LOP. Carbon build up in the valve guide. Again, can only happen ROP. During the exhaust cycle, carbon gets deposited on the valve stem. After the exhaust cycle, when the valve retracts to close the port, some of the carbon on the stem gets transferred to the valve guide. Over time, deposits cause misalignment of the valve and a leak develops (and your plane probably has morning sickness too). Exhaust valve manufacturing defect. Carbon build up causes insufficient heat transfer from the valve to the head. As for LOP causing cylinder failure, I cannot think of a reason why LOP could be a problem except as mentioned earlier. The main reason would be improper management which lets the cylinder head get too hot causing warping. But 1480 EGT ROP is the same temperature as 1480 LOP. Its up to you to manage your power/mixture/airspeed to keep CHT's within reasonable limits. On the other hand ROP can cause deposits in the cylinder and on the piston which can provide sources for hotspots if you are trying to destroy your engine by pre-ignition. As for the specific engines you mentioned, if the plane only had a single cylinder EGT/CHT indicator, it is entirely possible the owner was running LOP on the one cylinder they could monitor and really running 50 ROP on others. They could have had excess CHT's on the cylinders they could not monitor. In my opinion, it is asking for trouble to try and run LOP unless you can monitor all cylinders. It was done for years, but with the equipment available today, it seems like cheap insurance to monitor all cylinders. Spend $3000 now to extend the life of your engine by 500 hours. That will more than save the $3000. As the old Fram commercial used to go: You can pay me now or you can pay me later. Let us know what the mechanic says. Bob

Speaking of math, not all A&P's are good at math. I've found math errors on several W&B sheets. Bob

Yes. Each month I try to fly one ILS and one RNAV approach. Every now and then I fly the VOR/DME (arc) approach to runway 35 at Olympia. Bob

Ooops. Sorry. Bob

I once had a DC9 captain on my DC9 jumpseat who had recently had a new regional jet pilot on his (steam gauge) DC9 jumpseat. Not too long after level off the new pilot kept looking around the cockpit for a moving map and finally asked the captain, "how do you know where you are?" Bob

Just a suggestion. Although I fly a J, you can use the same techniques, just different power settings. I like to plan a descent at 500 FPM, terrain permitting, for the sake of my passenger's ears. With that in mind, when I start down I set a power setting that will let me cruise a bit under landing gear speed once I level off in the pattern. For me, that's 2200 RPM and 20" MP. Since your gear speed is lower, you might need to use less power. Doing it that way minimizes my power changes. I try to be below gear speed before I hit any segment of the approach. That way, if I need a steeper than normal descent, I can lower the gear for drag. If you are high and fast and can't put the gear down, you may never be able to get slow enough to configure, even at idle power. If you find yourself in this situation, go to idle, level off, slow down, lower the gear, then start the descent again. Study the approach before you go fly. Calculate required descent rates to meet crossing restrictions. See if any will need descent rates that will require the gear. Here is what I use in the J: Cruise (above about 7500' and turbulence permitting): WOT, 2400 RPM, LOP Descent: 2200 RPM, WOT until 20" then 20", 500 FPM (5 to 6 NM/1000' of descent) Approaching the first fix: Still 2200 RPM, 20" gives me about 125 KIAS. One mile prior to glideslope intercept or need for 3 degree descent whichever comes first: 2200 RPM, 15", slow to 105 KIAS Glideslope intercept: Gear down, power back just a bit more to slow to 90 KIAS on the glideslope. 1000' AGL, start milking in the flaps to be configured and slowed to 80 KIAS by 500' Runway in sight and below about 300', slow to final approach speed, 70 KIAS for me. You'll come up with your own techniques, but plan ahead and try to minimize the need for significant power changes so you can concentrate on flying the airplane rather than flying the throttle. Better to be a bit slower than needed and take longer to get to the runway, than to be too fast and never make it to the runway. Bob

+3 Bob

When we did out panel mods we took weight out at so many locations that we decided to weigh it. I was hoping to gain useful load with all the equipment we took out but had heard horror stories about losing useful load when weighing. Only gained about a pound of useful load. Wasn't nearly as horrifying as I had heard. We have since removed a couple more items and changed starters so we are up about 10 pounds right now from when we bought it. Put me in the its better to know category. Bob

It all depends. In the 757/767 I flew until I was cleaned up then let George have it. I usually turned him off at about 2000' on final unless a go-around was a distinct possibility. However, whenever things got rushed, my first reaction was to turn off the automation and hand fly. Easier and quicker for me than figuring out how to get George to do it. There is often a 5 second delay from input to the system until you see a reaction out of the autopilot. In the DC9 I hand flew to 10,000' or first level off whichever came first and turned off the autopilot as soon as I heard 'cleared for the approach'. Since the DC9 only had one autopilot, we even flew some flights when it was inop. However, since we were allowed to refuse the plane with an inop autopilot, I would never drop one off at an out station like that and expect some other crew to fly it back. I can remember flying Kalispel-Minneapolis, MInneapolis-Columbus, and Minneapolis-Winnipeg. If the weather was nice and the other pilot was willing to fly one of the legs, I would take a plane out and back, but never just out. Bob

If you have a KT-76 I'm thinking the cheapest way is a TT31 from Trig. Slide out the KT76, slide in the TT31 (same tray), run one or two wires from the GPS to the Trig and you are done. The TT31 goes for $2395. Don't know what they would charge to add the wires between the GPS and the Trig. Bob

John. However, the Aerospace Logic fuel gauges ...are... STC'd as primary. And... once Cies comes out with the new float kit for the Mooney (not sure when that will happen), they are compatible with the Cies floats. That combination should give you fuel level accuracy to something less than a gallon, probably within 0.2 gallons. Bob Bob

Beautiful. I'm jealous. Bob

I've got a J, but supposedly the best speed uses "Carson's" (?) factor. If I remember, that is about 1.3 times L/D max. So about 1.3 times your best glide speed. In the J that would be about 90 x 1.3 = 117 KIAS. The higher you go, the higher the TAS will be for any given IAS. So... for whatever altitude you pick, theorectically, pick a power setting that will give you the desired indicated airspeed. Bob

I'm an old dog. My response would be 'standby'... grab my pen and get ready to write... 'go ahead for 201CB.' Write it all down, read it back, then say, 'could you give me an initial heading?' Turn to the heading, let the autopilot fly, then start programming. If I tried to program it into the tablet while they were reading it to me I'd miss half of it. Like I said, old and slow and getting older and slower. Bob

Used to be that a BC was the only approach to runway 24 at GRB and I think the same can be said for runway 19 at MSY. I've done mulitple BC approaches in the DC9. Not that big of a deal. Put the front course in the course window and away you do. The only hard part is planning the descent unless you like to 'dive and drive'. Haven't looked for let alone tried one in the Mooney yet though. Bob

I'm old and not getting any younger. Even though I carry a phone and a tablet with sectionals, and the GTN knows frequencies, I find it easier for this old dog to look up the freqs before flight, write them down, then just read them when I need them. I still use paper and pencil to write down the ATIS and clearance when I'm at work. I'm just too slow to look it up electronically. You young whipersnappers ! Bob

Thanks. Bob

Assuming weather does not require one over the other due to minimum differences, I too prefer the LPV. Do not be afraid to ask for something other than what they offer. Going into EUG they told me it would be vectors for the ILS. I asked for and was given the RNAV (LPV). Bob

Just posted a PDF file and included it as an attachment here. It contains a form I use for flying. Three page document but you'll only want to print pages one and two, two-sided, long edge binding on your printer. Sorry, but I cannot figure out how to get rid of page 3 without deleting info on page two. Front side has spaces for airport ID, weather info in the order it should be presented, expected frequencies in the order they should be needed, filed flightplan route, and actual clearance. Back side has spaces for airport ID, weather info, frequencies, notes, and flight times for entry into your logbook when you get home. I fill in the airport ID's, frequencies and filed route before I leave home. Once I'm at cruise, I flip the card over to make the notes area available for route changes, etc. Hope you find it useful. Weather.pdf Bob

I was 37 when I was hired at NWA. Not sure who you work for (Southwest or Alaska maybe with just one type aircraft?) but I don't see why you couldn't make captain. However, with that said, there is nothing wrong with being an FO. Not even financially. Two years ago as a senior 7ER FO, I made more money then I ever made as a DC9 CA... and that was before the bankruptcy 35% pay cuts! By being senior I was able to bid a maximum pay schedule every month. Since I did not need vacation to get any week off I wanted, I bid my vacation to maximize pay rather than take a vacation. I would split my vacation into 2 periods, both at the end of a month. 45 hours in one month and 68 in the other. Because of the way schedule building rules work, if I had 68 hours of vacation in May, when I bid for April, I would put my priority on finding the largest 'carry-out' trip I could. I could usually find a trip that would carry 60 to 65 hours into May that got back before my vacation period. 65 + 68 = 133 hours of pay for May and I would be done by the 9th or 10th of the month. 45 + 70 = 115 hours in the other vacation month. That's almost an entire month of extra pay each year. Being senior I could do a 'swap with the pot' where there were not time limits other than FAR limits. I swapped a little 3 day I had for an 8 day charter that popped up at the last minute. Deadhead in business from SEA to NRT. Layover for 40 hours. Ferry a 767 to New Delhi. Layover for 15 hours. Ride Air India to Mumbai. Layover for 36 hours. Deadhead to AMS in business. Layover for 24 hours. Deadhead to SEA in business and go home. Eight days, around the world to do one ferry flight, and make an extra 25 hours of pay over what I had. Some reserves in bases with lots of open time use 'rolling thunder' and make more money than the captains who are holding schedules. 1. Know the rules. 2. Follow the rules. 3. Use the rules to your advantage. Bob

The rumor is what fantom said. However, I believe the reality lies in $. The FA's have different work rules than the pilots. At Delta, they do not have a union and thus no 'contract' just work rules set by Delta. That allows them to work longer hours during the day and shorter layovers at night. We both have 'long' and 'short' layovers. Long layovers are downtown and short are near the airport. Pilots tend to get more long layovers while the FA's tend to get more short layovers. Occasionally you will all go to the same hotel but will usually leave on different flights the next day. It is rare to fly more than one flight with a group of FA's. It can actually work to the senior FA's advantage by having different work rules. For example, senior FA's with kids often bid for trips that are a redeye turn. That is, they may fly from ATL to SEA in the evening after their spouse is home, then do the redeye back to ATL that night, and get home in time to get the kids off to school. One day of work for 10-12 hours of pay. Work 7 or 8 days/month and done. Bob

You may like the idea of Flight Stream allowing you to upload your flight plan from your iPad to the GTN, but for me personally, it isn't worth the money. After I start the engine, I usually set there several minutes (leaned out) waiting for the oil temperature to come up to 90F before I taxi. That usually gives me plenty of time to program the fuel quantity into the JPI and the route into the GTN. The only exception would be on a multi-leg day. I could then program the iPad, (android in my case), start up, upload, and go. However, even so, it only takes a minute or so to program the GTN. To each his own. Bob

WARNING !!! Novel ahead !! As mentioned, you'll probably need to get hired at a regional to build time, especially turbine. But it should not take 10 years to get to the majors. Probably only 2 to 4 years. Pay at the regionals is bad but as someone else mentioned, they may have to start paying more because if they don't they will run out of pilots as they all go to the majors. Once you get to the majors, as others have said, expect to pay your dues for a year or two. Bad trips, bad schedules, and work every holiday. After maybe two years or so, you can choose to be junior on a higher paying airplane and continue with bad quality of life or you can choose to be relatively senior on a smaller plane and have a better schedule. I always liked the smaller plane and quality of life. Besides, I got most of my flying time 1.3 hours at a time and my posterior is trained to get sore after that. When looking at pay rates, take the hourly rate and multiply by 1000 to figure what you can make in a year. Less if you fly a minimum schedule, and more if you are very aggressive. Delta currently has a bit shy of 13,000 pilots. 5800 of them will have to retire in the next 10 years. The last few years of that span will see about 800 pilots each year reaching age 65. Now is a good time to get hired. Probationary pay is $70/hour. Second year pay is $100/hour +/- $10. We use computer bidding. Tell the computer what you want. It then goes in seniority order and builds the best schedule it can with what is left at your seniority. Once you have maybe 30% of your seat behind you in your base, you can usually get either good trips if you don't care when you fly, or the days off you want if you don't care what type of trip you fly. Plan on 10 to 16 days of work each month depending on seniority and how much money you want to make. If you commute, plan on another 0 to 5 days/month commuting, depending on the equipment you fly and your seniority on that plane. If you are on reserve, plan on 17 or 18 days on call. If you live in the base that's not bad though. Only 7 of those days will be short call when you must be at the airport within 2 hours. The rest of them you will get at least 12 hours notice so you can live a somewhat normal life in the local area. Sitting reserve from May to September you will probably fly 15 days each month. From October to April you might only fly 5. Some pilots on reserve have to go back to the simulator every 90 days because they lost their landing currency. Layovers are what you make of them. They range in length from 9 to 96 hours. Most are in the 12 to 16 hour range. Delta pilots usually layover at different hotels than the flight attendants so if you want someone to eat with you only have one choice. If you fly early and get done early, chances are you can eat dinner together. If you get in after dinner, and the layover is long enough, you might go have a beer together if you are both so inclined (I'm not). If you sleep in and fly late (my preference), you will probably be on your own the entire layover. I bid #6 out of 180 in my seat (757/767 FO in Seattle after 25 years with the airlines) so I pretty much hand pick my trips and can bid any week off I want. I don't care where I go or how long the layovers are. I just want high value trips to minimize time away from home (about 6 hours/day or so) and no alarms clocks. Can't always get that, but I try. I will never be senior enough to hold the left seat in SEA or SLC on the 757/767 or A330. I could hold a schedule in NYC or DTW. I could be on reserve in MSP. Haven't checked ATL but I think I could hold a schedule there. I'm just a little junior to the junior captain at LAX. If I was willing to commute (did for 21 years), I could be a captain in any base on something smaller. They are putting the 737 into Seattle this summer and I could hold left seat on that if I wanted. I was a DC9 captain for 11 years and my ego does not require enough stroking that I need to sit in the left seat. I have one 13 day trip left, some days off, all my vacation I earned last year, then I'm retired. I won't turn 63 until this summer, but we have the financial capacity to retire. While I still like my job, I'm going to like retirement better. How's that? Any other specific questions, ask away. Bob

Or if you have a GTN you can use the calculator found in the Utilities area to find the TAS. Don't forget though, that it asks for calibrated airspeed, not indicated airspeed. I generally just subtract 2 knots from indicated to get a pretty close approximation of calibrated. Of course I wait until I'm flying in a downdraft or hitting a gust of wind before I do that so my speed will be higher. Bob

Yep. I'm down to 20 feet and 120 knots. Bob