Bob - S50

Don't sell yourself short. Airline pilots like us may know a lot about IFR but you would be surprised how little we know about VFR and piston engines. We've had our J for two years now and I'm still learning. Bob

Pick a speed and line them up on the ground, say 120 mph or knots with 120 on the white ring. See which set of speeds the white ring stays aligned with and you'll have your answer. Bob

FAR 91.215 requires a trandsponer and mode C at altitudes above 10,000' unless it is within 2500' of the surface. Bob

I believe that is correct. However, you also need a mode C within 30 miles of the primary Class B airport even if outside the Class B itself. Don't know if ADS-B will be required or not. Bob

Airplane first, MooneySpace second. Bought the airplane for performance. Found Mooneyspace for good info. Bob

Seems like the easiest way to upgrade the 430w would be to buy the Avidyne. No installation cost. Then sell the 430w before nobody wants them.

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that under the proposed rules, you could only continue to fly using your driver's license as proof of fitness if you had not been refused an FAA physical. That is, if you have been passing your physicals you won't need one. If you've failed a physical, you still can't fly. You would have to pass a physical at least once before you stop taking them. I have a special issuance on my physical. I'll be curious to see what the ruling on needing to continue getting a physical would be based on that. Bob

I have nothing against individuals regardless of where they are from. However, when I fly overseas I have no problem understanding the Russians or Japanese and I can usually understand the Koreans but I have a very difficult time understanding the Chinese. However, the controllers around Shanghai seem to speak better English than those around Beijing. There are a couple reasons I try to avoid flying to China. 1. If you do not understand what they told you, there is a pretty good chance they will not repeat it for you. Something to do with the saving face mentality that exists in many cultures. That means I may go/do something I've not been cleared for and end up violated. Its a good thing there are 3 of us in the cockpit at that point because hopefully one of us will have understood. 2. They let politics affect safety. I have personally flown with a pilot who had to divert emergency fuel to Seoul because the Chinese controllers would not allow him to land at any airport in China. They said he would be arrested if he did. All because they did not like something Obama or Clinton had said about China earlier that day. I've also flown with pilots who have sat waiting for takeoff for over an hour while they watched planes from other countries taxi past them and take off. Again, because of something that was said. I admire anyone who flies while speaking English rather than their native language. If I had to learn French or Spanish or Japanese or Chinese or... to fly for a living, I would have found another profession. However, there is no place for culture, politics, or ego in aviation if they are going to affect safety.

Were both radios tuned to frequencies that were only slightly different? For example 121.5 and 121.4? Bob

I'm a little late to the game here, and I realize you are all talking just academically (or at least I hope you are), but just to watch the food fight grow, let me throw a couple more scraps in here. IF you were going to enter the DME based fix and do the mental math for other fixes: 1. Unless you know something I don't, there is no way to enter an ILS as the DME source. You cannot use the airport and assume it is the same as the DME on the ILS. So for the ILS 28L to SFO example you were using, you could not enter the airport as the DME source. Depending on the airport configuration, the location of the GPS 'airport' could be a significant distance from the ILS DME equipment. I suppose you could enter a named fix like HEMAN or PONKE but do I really want to be doing the math while tracking the ILS in the soup solo? Let me see, PONKE is 21.6 and WETOR is 18.3, so I have to at or above 5000 until I'm 3.3 miles past PONKE. Wow, no thanks. 2. True DME equipment is slant range. GPS DME is not. Although, during approaches, altitudes are low enough that the difference is probably insignificant, there is a difference in distances. However, at significant AGL heights, the difference can be significant. Carry on... Bob

Last year, the MSC at TTD charged $95/hour. I think the local mechanic we use charges about $65/hour at S50. Bob

Show off.

MJP Welcome and good luck. As others have said, nothing beats the M20J for efficiency. Each year brought small changes to the J, but '78 turned out to be the biggest one for me. The '77 had the fuel selector between the pilot's feet. Too hard for an old man like me to reach. '78 moved it between the seats. And the '77 had lever power controls rather than push pull vernier controls. I much prefer the verniers for fine adjustment. With a little effort you can find a J with a useful load of 950+ pounds but you'll have to ask. With that useful load, you'll be able to put in enough fuel (41 gallons) to fly for 3 hours (LOP) at 150 KTAS, land with 10 gallons, and still carry 710 pounds of people and bags. Or, if you are a glutton for punishment, fill the tanks, fly about 6 hours, go 900 miles, and carry about 580 pounds of people and bags. I too looked at the Arrow... and Comanche, Bonanza, Rockwell 112, Cardinal RG and 182RG. The Arrow and 112 are the slowest of the bunch. Bonanzas are pretty cheap right now but if you consider a V tail Bonanza, check the CG loading. It isn't hard to go out the back end if you put much weight in the back seat. I think the Deb is a bit better. My second choice was actually the 182RG but the drawbacks for me were the landing gear, higher fuel burn for about the same speed, and carbureted rather than injected. Could carry more weight though. Best of luck, Bob

And if you want more pressure, I recommend the Donaldson air filter rather than the Bracket filter. When we did that, it might be my imagination, but we seemed to gain about an inch of MP. Bob

When we go flying during bug season, I take a wash mitt that we use on our car, soak it with water, and put it in a gallon sized ziplock bag. After flight, my ...wife... usually wipes the bugs off while I'm buttoning up the plane. Bob

Forgot to mention. I was similar to you but with fewer piston hours. A source of good information I found were the Pelican's Perch articles written by John Deakin. Here's the link: http://www.avweb.com/news/pelican/182146-1.html?redirected=1 LOTS of articles. Look through the index and you'll probably find several of interest. Not Mooney specific, but very helpful on the care and feeding of you engine. If you want to start a food fight, just ask questions about LOP vs ROP, pitch or power for speed control, or Camguard. Bob

There is actually an adapter you can buy from JPI that allows both to use the cylinder fins and avoid using the spark plug sensor. Bob

I've done one charity flight but I did not claim a tax deduction. My wife auctioned off the flight to raise money for her group and we took the winner up for a ride. We did not get any of the money paid by the winner. We paid for the entire flight. I wouldn't think that would be any different that just giving a friend a ride for free. Now if you want to claim it as a tax deduction, that could be different. On the other hand, I do intend to take the tax deduction for the Angel Flights I fly. Bob

I was concerned about too much forward pressure causing a prop strike too, that's why I only apply a little forward pressure to keep the nosewheel firmly planted for directional control. I haven't tried a no flap takeoff though. Do you find it helps a lot? If so, how much does it increase your lift off speed? Does it take a significantly different trim setting? Bob

I'm not concerned about the takeoff once airborne. Its easy to establish a crab to maintain runway alignment. However, while still on the ground, wheel contact is what keeps me rolling straight down the runway. As speed increases so does lift on the wings. This reduces wheel contact pressure. Any bump that lightens that load is enough that I can start to drift downwind. The closer I get to takeoff speed, the less control I have. On landing, once I make contact with the ground, I am once again using primarily ground contact for control and that is increasing as my speed decreases. With years of flying, I find it relatively easy to maintain a crab until in the flare, then switch to cross controls until touchdown while maintaining the centerline. However, I personally just find it more difficult to maintain centerline while rolling down the runway for takeoff, especially once the speed builds to about 50 KIAS or so. I was just curious if others felt the same way. Bob

There is no requirement for a GPS to fly IFR. I did it for 20 years on the DC9. Assuming your plane meets all the other requirements, you should be good to go. With no DME you will be limited to VOR, ILS, LOC, ADF, PAR, and ASR approaches. If you see approaches that say something like VOR/DME 17, look and see if there is a note that says "DME or Radar Required". If there is, you can fly those too but you'll need to let ATC know you'll need radar identification of those fixes that are identified using DME. Bob

Is it just me or does anybody else think it is more difficult to takeoff in a crosswind than it is to land in the same amount of crosswind? For me, with a crosswind, when I approach takeoff speed, the plane seems to get pretty light in the feet and starts to scoot sideways, even when I'm applying aileron to hold the upwind wing down. I've started using light forward pressure on the yoke until I'm ready to fly (about 65 KIAS) then rotate and get off the ground before I start drifting toward the dirt. Even with that, any bump in the pavement that reduces weight on wheels and the plane starts to drift. Anybody have any good techniques? Bob

I hear and report 121.5 ELT's quite frequently. However, if you have a GPS in your airplane I would highly suggest updating to the newer 406 ELT. With 121.5, you are relying on other aircraft to report to ATC that they hear an ELT. ATC will then try to figure out about where the signal is coming from based on who else can hear it. If you filed a flight plan and are overdue, they will then send up someone with a VHF ADF to try and find you. Not very precise location. If you have the 406 ELT tied to the GPS, when you go down, it is ...supposed... to transmit your location via satellite to the Air Force. If it works, they should know your location within a matter of yards. They will potentially get to you much quicker which could make the difference between life and death. Since each ELT has a specific code, they even know exactly what airplane is involved. I've even heard stories of people accidentally setting off their ELT and getting a call from the Air Force within 5 minutes checking to see if they are alright or if they have been involved in an accident. Bob

Why worry about EGT? If you are concerned about cooling, watch the CHT. Which JPI do you have? If its a 730/830, you can check the cooling rate by looking at the CLD readout. If its the 700 I don't know what to tell you other than watch the CHT temps. Bob

You know you can fly your Mooney over the Grand Canyon correct? While I have not done it yet (based in WA state) you just have to meet certain minimum altitudes and fly across the canyon itself through specified corridors. One of my planned trips will eventually take me from the Las Vegas area (probably BVU) by Hoover Dam, over the Grand Canyon twice (up one corridor and down another) then over Meteor Crater and then to the Phoenix area. I'm sure you'll have fun. Bob