Ragsf15e

You should fly over Spokane sometime when they launch them. Maybe every 8-12 hours or so? ATC issues a warning, “Be advised, uncontrolled balloon launch approximately 5 miles north of Spokane airport, surface and above.” Then they proceed to vector you right near there. I’ve never see the actual balloon, but I think it would be very exciting to find it in a cloud someday! There doesn’t seem to be any kind of deconfliction, especially if you were vfr over top of the class C minding your own business.

Yeah, there’s a couple places in the system where the clearance is minimal. TheSB covers 1, I think the one @N201MKTurbo mentioned is different but equally tight.

My dad’s got a whole bunch of rc airplanes of questionable design and maintenance. He likes to put cameras all over them to make pretty videos and help with the crash investigations. If he doesn’t already have video of an aileron disconnected in flight, I bet i could persuade him to try it…

Mine too! I just push the test button while listening on a handheld once in a while and skip 3/4 of the stuff on this thread!

I just love watching you, @EricJ and @PT20J talk about stuff like this. Always interesting, civil, educational and well documented when possible. Now I just gotta watch and munch my popcorn.

What you described is (basically) the flooded start procedure (minus applying boost pump to make sure it’s flooded and possibly slowly walking throttle back as it cranks). I agree that will likely work, but you might look at the ignition system to see why a normal hot start isn’t working. Mine works just like @Shadrach. Very very rarely do I “miss” a hot start and have to do a flooded start.

A true Mooney owner, you know that Scotts towels are 3 cents per piece?!

If you can still afford a solid, well upgraded turbo model and not a runout one, you’ll be happier there with the turbo. You’ll also want oxygen which will come with the turbo. The extra costs will be worth it and likely not terribly significant.

I’ve had aeroLEDs on mine for at least 9 years too (previous owner). One leaked and filled with water (still working). One (white tail light) went out. Both were replaced free even though I had no warranty info, proof of purchase, etc. In the last 8 years, I leave them on and no issues.

Yeah, I thought i saw 1.3” on the Garmin website, but you’re right. The new one is 1.3” so does compete with the trig and sl30.

According to the garmin and Trig websites they are both 1.3” tall units which is the same as an SL30. Garmin also has the gnc255a nav com which is similar priced to the Trig and same size. I wonder if they did the new one just to get some fancy colors on the screen?

Good question. I guess if it started behaving erratically or caused me to crank down the gear? Or maybe the 40/1 gears failed the AD inspection one year? They aren’t currently available?

I have a dukes as well on my ‘68 F… any idea if there’s someone out there who can “rebuild” them? Im also hoping never to need it, but the inability to get replacement gears or a new actuator if they’re needed is also spooky.

Yeah, searching for the actual spot leaking and then just fixing that spot is the hard part and probably the only thing short of full reseal that will be effective.

Personally, I think I’d talk to a few engine shops about the leak and the procedure @N201MKTurbo recommended and then pick a shop to fly it to do that. Probably not even remove it from the airplane. I had a little seepage at tge same spot after cylinder replacement but my mechanic told me to relax and it does seem to have stopped which is why I asked, but your cylinder work was a long time ago.

Has the case been split previously? Have the cylinders been replaced recently?

Also, once the front is off (above) the rail, you must keep the seat very straight and not lift up the front as you slide it back. If it’s not straight or tilts back, the rear part (which is still attached to the rail) binds against the rail.

Tilt seat back forward, compress bottom against the back seat hard. Fwiw I had mine out day before yesterday. I slid it forward first, pushed hard forward and popped the front off the rail. Keep it very straight. Slide it straight back, tilt the seat forward and push back until the back pops off. When done just right it comes off real easy.

That moon is awesome! And yes, the best time for night flying!

I was teaching T-6s from 2012-2015. No more travel to Ciudad Acquna allowed…

I taught pilot training at Laughlin afb in Del Rio. Our students violated Mexican airspace on a daily basis and we were the only ones that seemed to care. One time I flew my Mooney from del rio to El Paso and I was cleared direct El Paso from a place where the route would take me well into Mexico across the curve of the rio grande… I asked to stay in the US and was told “cleared as requested, let me know when you’re going direct” so I guess there wasn’t much traffic out there since I was just on my own to navigate.

I replaced the gasket on the gascolator (seal kit from lasar) last year. It wasn’t hard, but the torque is really low (14 in lbs maybe?) or you can hurt the irreplaceable gascolator. We did it, turned on the fuel while my IA was under watching for leaks. I heard him yell and saw a 250lb, 6’4” man roll out from under surprisingly quickly. It was pouring out fuel. I turned it back off. We took the collator back apart and everything looked good. We actually disconnected the in/out fuel lines from the collator so we could hold the bottom half perfectly level to the upper half while slowly tightening, then reconnected the lines. The gasket is real sensitive to proper seating. No leaks.

You guys talking the pull drain or the actual gascolator where the bottom half has a gasket and is connected to the upper half? If the gascolator, it needs very light torque iaw the manual, but it also needs to be kept very even/level as it’s torqued or it will leak with a new seal.

Installed the ones from Lasar today. Super easy swap and it rolls much better!

It’s happened to us all. Glad your airplane seems to be running better. I hope you can find a good shop, that’s always a bit tougher than you might think.