Ragsf15e

@GeeBee, at least with my 252, it’s not really the ground temps that affect my oil temp, but the real cold temps aloft. If you’re looking at -20c or so, Id put on the winterization kit.

As others have said, I wouldn’t really want to do this often, however… I have a 252 updated to the SB engine (encore upgrade) with extended tanks. You can get 104-110 gallons in depending on how persistent you are. I cruise at ~175ktas around 15,000’ at 65% power burning 10.4gph. Mine runs lean of peak well, others might have some issues and rop or book (which is about peak) costs more fuel for the same speed. So I count 15gallons for the first hour (climb is 26gph!), 11 gph thereafter (10.4 if you want to be exact). That gets you 7.5hours with 15gallon reserve. If you multiply that by 175ktas, you will see a range of 1200nm no wind. That doesn’t sound fun, it doesn’t account for westbound winds, requires you to be in the mid/upper teens sucking oxygen for 7 hours, and crosses several fronts. It’s probably useful on rare occasions, not a normal flight.

However, if you just wanted a ride in one or to sit in it and see how it feels, you won’t need a cfi and you’ll probably find someone who will gladly show you their airplane.

Yeah I saw it sitting in the shop for a long time waiting on new flaps from Mooney!

The “collapse” ones scare me. That shouldn’t be able to happen should it? I guess a worn down lock block on a Johnson bar maybe? Really hard landing? Especially when it’s just 1 gear collapse. That shouldn’t happen, but it does somehow? There was one (maybe a Bravo?) at KSFF that had the left main collapse (it was a transient from ~Seattle maybe). No prop strike! Needed new flaps, gear rods, and a few other things but he got it flying again. How does that happen? Poorly rigged gear?

Mine is set fully closed as well. It also “seems” a knot or two faster there than if it’s open slightly. But I haven’t done real good testing on that. I haven’t had cooling issues running lop and flying in the teens except in the dead of summer. Usually it’s still cool up there in the northwest where I live.

To find the proper thickness, do I measure it with a micrometer or do I need to completely take it off? I’d like to order some and play with it (and improve my pigtails) before getting my mechanic to help R&R the whole thing?

You guys are awesome, thank you! My mechanic did put liberal mouse milk along the cable so that might wick in as you said. I’m on the hunt for proper size wire so I’m ready when it fails again.

Today I taxied over to do an oil change with my mechanic. It was cold, so I put the cowl flaps halfway up to let the oil warm up while I taxied. Well, that didn't work. They wouldn't go up. But they would go all the way down... anyway, long story short, when we got the cowl off, the "Bowden" cable was bent all up. Cowl flaps actually worked fine, but the cable is connected to the indicator. Apparently they don't slide very well in the sheath after ~40 years. We disconnected it and were able to get kroil in there at both ends and it seems to go back and forth ok. Straightened the end where it was bent, and actually got it to work again, but I think the cable is not long for this world. I need to find a new one. So IPC says it's part 650246-003/005 "wire" and "housing". Not on Lasar's website. If it's really a "Bowden" Cable, I think I could measure it and buy it through Spruce by the foot, however, the end by the cowl flap has the cable wrapped in a "pigtail" where it connects. I can't see one like that on Spruce. My mechanic said "rolling our own" pigtail is problematic, even if we try to heat the wire. We'll either break it if it's cold or ruin the heat treatment on the part that needs to be stiff, so I should find one that's already pig tailed. Great. Has anyone else had experience with replacing the "piano wire" type of cables? Did you get parts from Lasar? Did you ever see a coiled "pigtail" connection? How did you find the specific cable sizes you should use? Thanks, Drew

I thought the “e-mag” is only for experimental?

@Jake@BevanAviation is the expert…

I hope they put a pretty good effort into it instead of just saying it was all too damaged in the fire and they can’t tell. I think it could potentially save lives in the future to know what really happened.

The other thing that’s hard to quantify (and I don’t think foreflight calculates this very well) is that you have to turn into (and thus reduce) any quartering tailwind to maintain course. If it’s really strong, you have to turn into it a lot which further reduces the tailwind and increases the amount you turn into it. Depending on your own speed and the wind speed/direction, you could have a “tailwind” that is actually a headwind by the time you apply enough correction. The wind side of old e6b calculators makes this easier to see. For some reason, I don’t feel like foreflight fully takes the course correction and subsequent change of head/tailwind into account.

In addition to what @midlifeflyer said, he never mentioned rolling wings level. I have to wonder if he added power, lowered the nose (as he described) and then tried to complete the pattern by increasing back pressure and bank as he was now likely nose low and overshooting. The description sounds vaguely like an accelerated stall to me. If you’re doing a stall recovery in the pattern, the pattern is over, recover fully from the stall.

Well that ended up awesome!

I agree, I have a sensorcon too. The previous owner put a Guardian into my current panel and apparently they can integrate with a g3x to give you accurate real time readings just like the sensorcon as well as alarms on the g3x. It sounds awesome and my panel is almost exactly like @unicoms, so why do I say “apparently”? My panel has used up all the rs232 inputs which is likely similar to the OP. The Guardian is instead connected to the eis as a “low trigger” (meant for a warning light on panels without a rs232) that will cause an alarm if CO goes over 50ppm, but losing its ability to display current level. I like the sensorcon better.

Theres a lot of incense burning, balancing acts, low muttering, and some downright voodoo to get the last few bubbles. Id use google to search “mooneyspace brake bleeding” and sit down to read with a big cup of coffee.

As @Jackk said, there are normal pedals in both seats, but they completely stop working as soon as you shut down both engines as you lose hydraulic pressure. There is an emergency hydraulic accumulator that nobody ever uses (or probably practices) that can give you some pressure for a short time. Loss of brakes and the dumping of unburned fuel already at the engine is why chocks are always in and the crew chief is back out front before he/she signals to shutdown. Unfortunately, we had been flying all over the persian gulf for like 6.5 hours of vul time and then ended up diverting (twice) due to a massive sandstorm. By the time we landed, we were at a marine base with no fixed wing planes and no crew chiefs. I was the 6 ship lead, so I parked first and (being an idiot, and exhausted) shutdown. I got out, stretched, took off my g suit and reached up to hang in on the ladder as I realized the ladder was moving backwards and picking up speed! So at least my entire 6 ship was there to see my buffunery. Not one of them ever mentioned it to anyone after dinner that night in the marine chow hall.

I had hopped out so brakes weren’t an option (for me at least …). It was flat ground, but there was a strong wind and the rear hinged canopy was up like a sail (F-15). It was on a run up area in Kuwait. The plane was rolling backwards towards the dirt. My whole piloting life flashed through my mind and I pictured my impending death at my commanders hands when his jet ended up in the sand. I would have thrown my body under a tire to stop it if I thought it would work. Thank god we bombed the crap out of that place in the Gulf War and the concrete debris was still there 15 years later. I ran off the ramp, grabbed a huge piece of 3” thick concrete debris with the Herculean strength of desperation and got it under a rear tire just before it would have gone off the pavement. I braced it with my whole body. The tire partially rolled up, then settled back down. Most of the back of the jet was hanging over the edge as if I had backed it in. My wso was still in his seat the whole time yelling that it was rolling. It wasn’t until after that we both remembered he has an emergency accumulator brake handle right in front of him. There but for the grace of god go I…

I have a funny/terrifying story about a ~60,000lb airplane rolling down the ramp in a strong wind while I chased it and attempted (eventually successfully) to stop it. Wasn’t good.

Well I’m gonna leave mine on. If you’re behind me, you can call me on tower if you want, but then at least I know you saw me!

I had my F at 14,500 a couple times because of the turbulence and to get over forest fire smoke. I fly a lot from Spokane down to Reno. It was never fun up there. The plane feels very underpowered and we all need some type of oxygen but none is built in and simple. I was very anal about only flying in the morning because of exactly what you said. Unfortunately that (and high DA takeoff) meant leaving grandmas house early a lot. Now with the K, we can leave at noon and just climb right up to 16,500’ where it’s cool and smooth and we’ve all got cannulas on from O2D2s and the big built in tank. Never mind that the airplane ends up much faster and actually (surprisingly) uses the same total fuel for the trip as my F.

Those square caps cover the rockers and are a common leak source. When you look closely at them, see if you can tell what kind of gasket is in there. There’s an older cork (or paper?) one and a newer silicone type (Ive seen orange). Both can leak if too loose or too tight, so that sucks. I have had better luck with the silicone ones.

Ha! Thanks, I was just guessing, but it appears our strobes really are less intense. Both of the airplanes I fly have LED strobes so it makes sense now. Thanks for adding that.

I’m another who only has strobes and leaves them on at all times. Ive flown “big iron” with rules/techniques similar to what @Jackk suggests and they do make sense in some applications. However, for our small (and short) airplanes I think having a blinking light on the ground is more positive than negative. It also seems our strobes aren’t as bright as say a Gulfstream, but maybe that’s me. I definitely consider turning them off more at night as they can be distracting (especially to others), but without them, it can be hard to see the airplane even with all the other lights on. For example, parked in a runup with someone else taxiing in , I might leave them on until they are definitely lining up next to me and not at me and then turn them off. In the daytime, without fog or maybe snow, they don’t really bother me when others leave theirs on.