philiplane

A Bravo gear up landing occurred at Palatka FL yesterday. No word on the cause.

Check the differences in Goodyear tires here. Oddly though, they don't have the weights in this chart. You can see a 2 lb variation between otherwise similar 600x6 tires.

A four ply tire will be lighter, and that will reduce vibration and shimmy, and it will be more flexible, to isolate the airframe from the pavement. Which is all better for the airplane. Don't go heavier than needed, but still buy the highest quality tire that meets the spec.

The crankshaft, rods, and crankcase must be re-usable. They throw nearly everything else away. Cam & cylinders are ground up and recycled.

https://www.lycoming.com/sites/default/files/file/2021-12/21LYC-LycomingLoyaltyMatrix-TBO_Brochure.pdf https://www.lycoming.com/sites/default/files/attachments/Lycoming%20Engines%20Exchange%20Engine%20Core%20Policy.pdf

Columbia Aircraft Engines in Bloomsburg PA. They can quote you for several options. A Lycoming factory rebuilt is 8-12 months out minimum, some models are 24 months out. Cost is about $41K for overhauled, zero-time rebuilt is $49,800. If your core is not acceptable, add another $30k.

It's a good idea to get insurance quotes first. That may affect the choice of aircraft. When getting back in after a long hiatus, many pilots find it difficult to get insurance in complex aircraft. A 74 year old hangar neighbor of mine just renewed his T210 insurance. It went up, a lot, and only one company would quote him. His existing company. Age is a big factor here. Insurance companies prefer that older pilots move to simpler airplanes. And even then, the cost can be eye watering. Another 76 year old neighbor pays $14,000 to insure a 2019 Cirrus worth $850k. That's about double what a 50-60 year old pays.

the big question is about the core. Will they give you credit for your 360 core? If not, there is a $31K core charge on top of the $59950.

And this engine is now $59,950.

I've watched the A340 wing in flight, but a 787 is even more flexible. The tips rise several feet on takeoff.

The polysulfide sealants used in all wet wing applications have a finite life. They last longer in tanks that contain jet fuel. Most tanks that contain jet fuel also have stronger structure that does not flex like a Mooney wing does. Aviation gasoline is as much of a solvent as it is a fuel though, and it's not expected for wet wings to last more than 20 years. Braly is not wrong here.

Even if your engine cools OK with these large gaps, you have cooling drag, which costs speed. In the worst case, you can lose 5-7 knots due to the inefficient airflow through the cowling.

Compliance with all manufacturer's instructions, including SB's, is required by many authorities outside the US. From SB643B: In addition to the requirements listed above, magnetos must be overhauled or replaced at the expiration of five years since the date of original manufacture or last overhaul, or four years since the date the magneto was placed in service, whichever occurs first, without regard to accumulated operating hours.

There are no really good maintenance shops at Fort Pierce. It's a bit of a ghetto, where the cheap guys go for quick sign offs. Johnny Stinson at F45 is reliable. https://amspalmbeach.com He's not a Mooney specialist but they do good work overall.

I've landed several different planes at Alton Bay. A Piper Apache, a Cessna Skyhawk, a Cirrus SR22, a Super Cub, and more. It's really not that hard to slow and stop. It's much harder to taxi around, especially with a castering nose wheel like a Cirrus or Grumman single has. You plan your turns based on rough patches in the ice where you can get some traction. Twins are easy since you have differential thrust. It's best to land when the runway has been freshly plowed, so it's rough. Landing later on a sunny day will get you some really slick conditions.

As a Service Center director, I was directly involved in repairing some brand new Mooneys in that time frame. The factory tried some new methods during assembly, and we had several 2005-2008 Mooneys with seeping tanks. Including brand new S Type Acclaims. Which did not go over well with the owners. Those planes went back to the factory for repairs and repainting.

If you retard the ignition timing by about five degrees on the higher compression engines, 94 octane works just fine. That is the official back up plan at Continental engines too. There is minimal power loss, so it's not a terrible trade-off.

https://www.flyingmag.com/blogs-flying-time-transition-unleaded-fuel/ The parallel valve O/IO-360's that can use 91/96 octane have been able to use Hjelmco's unleaded avgas, for more than thirty years now.

the wicking action of Corrosion X is what makes it better in preventing corrosion between skin lap joints. ACF50 is more waxy, and that's why it doesn't seep out through seams. I prefer the better wicking action of Corrosion X, because lap joint corrosion is hard to fix at any price. That said, don't use any anti-corrosion compound if you are planning paint work within the next three years.

It's not a low point. It's past the fuel tank, outboard. I'm pretty sure that Cirrus knows how to make their surfaces contamination-free before painting. This wrinkling exists on most of the hundreds of Cirrus I've seen.

magnetometer failures can happen after 8-10 years in service. I've replaced over a dozen of them on Diamond DA40 and Cirrus Sr22 aircraft. They just stop working with no warning. Servo motors don't fail, but the circuit board inside the housing stops communicating with the controller. Then you get a failure message and that axis stops working. It's more common on servos that are exposed to heat and humidity. That's the downside of "smart" servos. They can't operate without the feedback loop, so there is no limp home mode. They just go offline. Sometimes the failure is not in a component, it can be in the communication channel to the autopilot controller. The avionics shop should check all those connections first, before replacing parts.

https://aviationvibes.com/shop/jack-pad-adapter-for-cirrus-sr20-and-sr22/ I use these on Cirrus and other planes that have a hollow in the axle

Here is wrinkled paint on the fuel tank vent on a 2015 Cirrus, which has never seen G100UL. This is a well-cured urethane paint that has never been refinished since new. The wrinkles are caused by 100LL. And there is rarely any liquid here, only if you overfill the tank and the plane is on a slope.

The MSDS sheets for G100UL and for 100LL avgas list the components of each, and the percentage ranges of each component. It's not a secret. Nor is it a secret that toluene or xylene soften paint. You can buy them at any hardware store for the express purpose of thinning enamel paints. Fuel tanks aren't supposed to leak. But if they do, blaming the fuel for then stripping the paint is not the answer. Fixing the leak is the answer.

What's to "disclose"? Aviation fuels use various blends of distillates, and solvents like toluene and xylene. Both of these solvents soften paint.