Comet

My Mooney is 4 months older than me!

I got my glider license just before the pandemic shut everything down. Kept me from doing any soaring last season, but I hope to take it up again when the lapse rates look better. I found that glider flying is some of the most satisfying time you can have in an aircraft.

When I got my last iPad (several years ago), I got a Pivot case. You won’t find a simpler system for putting the iPad in and taking it out, and you don’t have to take it out of the case. A little expensive (compared to alternatives), but well worth it! https://pivotcase.com

Yes! I’ll send you a PM...I’m the only one in NM that I know of...

This is another statistical exercise. When you start flying, you only know a few pilots (maybe a few thousand hours total), so the likelihood of 1 is low. After you’ve been around awhile the pilots you know have hundreds of thousands of hours (maybe millions for professional pilots). Number 2 should always be 100%; most (if not all) active CFIs s know someone. I’ve had CFIs who have discussed it as a reminder that what we do is dangerous. One day we will all take our last flight; our job as pilots is to work hard to make sue it also isn’t our last day on earth!

Late to the topic, but Paul Dwyer in Santa Fe has quite a bit of time in Mooneys (not sure about K time). http://www.sierraflying.com

I was assuming best glide listed in my POH, not a rigorous L/D max vs. minimum sink airspeed. I’d love to see a polar for a Mooney (lots of armchair flying could be had). My G-CFI always mentioned the similarity of the laminar flow wing of a Mooney compared to a glider....still, 30:1 ratio is much different than 12:1!

Given 100 MIAS best glide speed, I figure you’d need a 7-8 kt thermal to maintain altitude. might be fun to get into a good mountain wave...

2020 -Commercial glider add on (pre COVID)...but didn’t get to fly gliders once the pandemic kicked off ☹️ -trips weren’t really on the menu...but I did get the restricted telephone operator and a radio license for the plane (I was optimistic in April) 2021 -work on CFI; including tail wheel endorsement, spin endorsement, and take FOI and FIA tests. -long trip with the older kids...either Oshkosh (again) or Alaska

My home airport is at 7171’; I typically rotate at 1800-2000’. Your concern may be the local terrain. At 10k’ DA, climb rate may be as low as 400-500 ft/min. One year when I was leaving for Oshkosh in the afternoon, DA was over 10k’ and it seemed to take forever to get to my cruising altitude of 11.5k’.

The 180 power off is all about energy management (just like flying a glider). If you are high energy (high and fast), you can use slips and flaps to dissipate energy (I would not put in any flaps or at most TO flaps until you see what your energy state is). If you are consistently high energy, you may want to fly further downwind to dissipate some energy. If you find yourself with low energy, pulling the prop back makes a huge difference. Iuse the same speeds as a normal landing. The trick is knowing the aim point so the float will be predictable. If you’re consistent (especially with speed), once in ground effect, the float will be consistent. If you’re at idle for the accuracy landings, it should be the same as the 180s once you get to the flare. I found the 180 power off landing the most demanding, but once you nail it, it is so gratifying. Good luck!

The Canadian books for my plane are much larger than the ones for while it’s been in the US...even though it was registered in Canada for many fewer years.

KLAM is a great little airport...all takeoffs on 9; all landings on 27; restricted area directly south of the airport; prevailing wind is a direct crosswind; mesas can produce LLWS;...oh, and high DA! In the terminal building, there’s a Aircraft Carrier KLAM stamp for your logbook if you are so inclined. I sent you a PM so we can connect.

I have an F and I’m at KLAM...besides, if you see a K first, you won’t want anything else!

When I put in my Surefly, most places didn’t have half harnesses in stock...New Horizons did and got it to me in a few days. https://www.newhorizonsmaggieaircraftignitionsystems.com/maggie-harness-order-form