Ragsf15e

I think (but could possibly be wrong) @carusoamand the OP are talking about two different “slops” in the tail... from the OP, he grabbed the elevator, so I think he was talking about slop in either his control hinges or in the elevator control rods. I think that matches up to what @PT20Jposted. the Slop Anthony mentioned is found by grabbing under the tail, behind the tail tiedown and lifting the entire empennage section. You should hear a thunk and perceive a very small movement. Not being a mechanic, I haven’t figured out what this is telling me or how to know if it’s good or bad , but I hope to learn that soon. Anyone?

something like that. Actually, you want to carefully think through passenger comfort if they are part of your flying dream. If she wouldn’t be impressed with a 4 hour road trip in a junky 75 toyota corrola, don’t “test fly” her in something similar. Mooney airplanes fitting your budget and mission will be from 1964ish-1985ish. Some might be pretty ragged and original. Some will be absolutely beautiful inside and out. I wouldn’t start her off in a dilapidated airplane... might be her last flight. Also think about the weather (smooth) and something fun (sightseeing or lunch?). If she’s comfortable in a mid body Mooney, your budget will allow you to get a really nice F or an older/not as updated J.

Obviously a Mooney would work for your stated mission, however, the only thing that actually matters is family (wife) willingness to fly in it. You can get a TBM, but if your family won’t get in it, you’ll just have the dog hanging out with you on the beach in the Bahamas. Which might be nice on occasion but probably defeats your purpose. Get someone with a nice Mooney to fly her on a nice smooth day and see what she says. You should fly in the backseat and see if that works for your kid(s). Even at 6’2”, I can sit in the back behind a shortish front seater. I’d want her to fly in a “mid body” so either an F or a J (or a G). If she flys in a 2015 Acclaim and loves it, you’ll need to sell your house, so don’t start there with her. If you get the thumbs up, we can help you spend the $100k on a good one that will meet your stated mission.

It’s pretty easy to maintain. When you finish polishing it, go back to where you started and begin again!

Well if they’re ok, success? Depends on what was straight in front of them when it failed... wheat field? Maybe I’d rather have continued. My home airport has a train yard (bridges, power lines, and towers) and industrial buildings. I think I’d take upside down but alive.

Ouch, maybe i was being optimistic? Definitely sucks if their airplane insurance eats that. Long time ago my dad was hit head on by a guy passed out from heroine. Guy died. Dad got extracted from his minivan and life flighted from the middle of the highway. Learned to walk (somewhat) over the next year as both legs were crushed. The dead druggie didn’t have insurance. Thank goodness my dad had uninsured/underinsured on his policy, although medical bills ate most of it over time...

Wowza! 3 airplanes totaled? And we thought airplane insurance was getting expensive! That guy’s trying to singlehandedly drive up auto insurance!

To give you a more basic answer, there are lots of options and none is “correct”. They all depend on what you’re trying to accomplish. The variation between settings will be small, possibly undetectable (ie “wear and tear”). You will however be able to see slight CHT differences, a few knots difference and/or a little fuel flow difference if you have a good engine monitor. It’s not “wrong” to run at 2700 rpm or 2400 or even less. I would say though that most people cruise 2400-2600. If you’re sightseeing and minimizing fuel burn is the goal, try lower rpm /mp. Climb should be at 2700rpm, although some people may reduce to 2600 for noise abatement. The engine is certified to run at 2700 though, so use that for the best climb. As noted, above about 5000’, you can leave the throttle full open and just adjust the rpm (within poh guidelines). You will see speed, chts, and oil temp (delayed) change slightly. If you cruise above 10,000’, try 2600 to gain back a few knots. If you do cruise low enough to adjust both mp and rpm, decide what your objective is (speed, mpg, wear and tear, etc) and play around until you find out what works for you.

However, on the bright side, Im pretty sure you can get to all the config pages yourself without special black boxes. Take pictures before changing them... I believe you have to turn on the unit while holding enter key (hopefully it works good enough for that). After that it’s pretty easy to cycle through the pages.

Agree, but in addition to the oil, heating the cylinders & pistons is good if it’s really cold and the clearances are reduced by the contraction. If you heat the oil long enough and cover the cowl with a blanket, I bet it warms the top of the engine too.

If your 3rd class medical ends up in the FBI crime lab you’ve got much bigger problems than a copied “original” signature!

See, it works! If they weren’t on your battery would have likely been toast next time you went to fly!

Yeah, I guess the key is diffusing the heat over an area and over time. I.e. putting it through a 4” duct through the cowl flaps for 4 hours vs shooting a heat gun directly at a part of the engine for a “quick” preheat. Maybe the actual amount of heat is the same, but warming the entire compartment over several hours is probably more effective and safer.

One other issue with a heat gun or anything else “quick” is that the engine and oil is a huge heat sink. Nothing is going to happen real fast. You can point 500 degrees of heat at cylinders 1/3, and you might even get the outside metal temps up pretty high, but did you heat the pistons and the oil? Or #2/4? Likely not. You really need to get the entire engine (inside and out) and oil up to a reasonable temp. no matter what, it’s going to take a little while. Even if your cylinder temp says 100 degrees, where is that sensor and does that mean the whole engine? If you want a good long term solution, reiff or tanis heats the oil and each cylinder. You can look on their website, but even they will tell you it takes time from a cold engine. If you want cheap (and not very mobile), a small space heater with dryer vent up the cowl works great. I use it on the lowest setting. I also have a text enabled power socket that I use to turn on the heater from home. I typically turn it on the night before. Outside temps of 10 degrees yield oil and cylinder temps of ~70 (it’s in a hangar).

Definitely leave the strobes on. Never turn that switch off. Cheap and tso’d. Never thought I’d put those two words in the same sentence.

The other place I’ve got them (the original black ones) is lasar. They generally have the old version in stock. Lasar in California, they are an msc.

You described it perfectly. And no, it shouldn’t drip oil...

You guys still have a step? Some of the one piece belly airplanes are “much” faster due to not replacing the step either...

One more reason I wish i had the one piece. That and the million screws. However, my ‘68 has survived without a gear incident all these years. I hope to keep that going even if it’s a little more work to clean and remove.

Try the red wash wax all under the airplane and you’ll be really happy. It definitely gets off exhaust and oil better than the blue. I always go blue on top, red on bottom.

What kind of Dr? My AME is a cardiologist and the nurse told me their eye test machine is not calibrated, tested or maintained to the same standards as an optometrist would be. I have a very similar issue to you, but they are pretty reasonable.

Ahh yes, that’s a common leak I forgot... oil quick drain is a good place to look for a drip!

It’s the chrome cylinders. I have the same setup. Chrome cylinders are known to have more blow by then steel. The blow by pressure increases drips out the breather. Chrome cylinders just use more oil. How much per hour is it using? Mine is about a qt/5 hours. Personally, I still keep mine at 6 qts. You are right about the cooling. Also oil is cheap.

Mike, definitely important to identify exactly what tube. The ~1/2” tube is the breather. You normally will see oil out of that and it’s ok. Maybe if you have an oil/air separator you don’t have much and it increased? The rest of us without separators normally have some drips there and mist from that tube coats the belly during flight. Amount of oil out that tube depends on how much blow by, how full you keep the oil, patterns vs cruise, etc. If it’s not that tube, @PT20J laid out the others. Two ~1/8” diameter tubes (mine are attached) are the sniffle drain and fuel pump drain. Shouldn’t get oil out those, but a failing mech fuel pump will drip oil there. Further aft there’s also a drain (mine is blue) for the fuel selector sump. There’s another in the same area for the electric pump. Both of those are aft of cowl flaps. Also, oil goes everywhere in there. You might want to open up the cowl and poke around to see if a leak is showing up seeping down there. Common leaks are oil return lines just below the cylinders, rocker box gaskets, and gaskets around all your accessories (mags, vac, governor). It doesn’t take much oil to look real bad.

Unlike @Niko182, I think the O might fit you just fine. Yeah, if you’re traveling with 4 adults all the time, a 6 seater is nice, but even high school kids are lighter and more flexible than adults. My wife flys happily in the back of our F while my son flys copilot and my daughter watches movies in the other back seat. Mooney is good with 2 adults and 2 kids. Make sure your family aspirations stop there though! So an ovation got almost all the extra length in the baggage, so room shouldn’t be a problem. Heck I’ve been carrying around 2 carseats and luggage in my F’s baggage for the last two years... @Niko182is probably right that you should check the fuel required for your planned flights vs your planned payload vs the useful load available. Ovations have a wide range, but somewhere between 775-1000ish. If you want AC for Arizona, it’s kinda heavy. An Eagle might also work for you. Generally the same, most have better UL. Probably no AC though. Maybe if you give some details like 450lbs of people plus, 100lbs of luggage, plus desired 400nm range with 1 hour reserve, someone can run the numbers for you and see what kind of UL you need?