helitim

Mooneymite, I have driven by your airpark many times and agree that you chose a really nice spot. Central Georgia is not for everybody but your neck of the woods is much nicer than most folks would ever believe. I did all my gyrocopter training at Herbert Smart airport in Macon. A little more about my background that I have not posted here before, I don't think. I lived for many years in North Alabama so I am acclimated to the humidity and lower visibility than we have here on the left coast. I built, owned and maintained a 2000' grass strip on 70 acres. It was nice to be able to walk out your front door to your hangar and pull the plane out for a 15 minute flight before dark when everything was calm and beautiful. I worked my backside off for two and a half solid years building that place and it was beautiful. After all the hard work was done and I had lived there with everything for a couple of years, what I realized was that I had this really nice place all to myself. While that is nice sometimes, I really missed the camaraderie of other pilots and the airport way of life. Where we live now in California, the airport is a very active and good group of guys. These types of friends are one of the things I want to maintain wherever we end up. The airpark/airport lifestyle is a big part what we are looking for. Cost of living, weather, etc are all very important as well. Utopia doesn't exist but we are looking for the closest we can find. Who knows, maybe we are already there and just don't know it. Tim

Bonal, What you are suggesting is really the crux of my question. If not here, then where? My wife has never visited Florida but is very interested. This trip is to familiarize her to a very small degree with what somewhere other than California has to offer. I am fairly familiar with Florida having visited many times over the years but, I have never lived there. Local knowledge is definitely invaluable to help maximize our time during this trip which is why I am very grateful for all of the postings and suggestions the forum has offered. Please keep the information flowing. Tim

The shop owner called me yesterday to come by and examine the disassembled engine. Turns out the face of the case halves had developed some corrosion and fretting. When I recently removed the #2cylinder to repair an oil leak it disrupted the seal on the surface faces. When I re torqued everything, the bearing clearance had tightened up just enough to make the engine tight when trying to manually turn the prop. He seems to think it can all be machined and the case and crank reused. My thoughts of eliminating the D mag may not come to fruition but that's Ok I guess.

We live in Pleasanton now and would probably keep the house here and become bi-coastal. (Living in the Bay Area, I got to make sure I spelled that correctly). Summers here and Winters in Florida. As you say it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find much better year round weather and activities. If you are bored in California, it's really your own fault. What I would like to get away from is the egregious cost of living, taxation and density of population. Having grown up in Alabama, this has been a difficult transition to the California lifestyle and associated costs. In Alabama I owned 70 acres of land with a private 2000 grass strip and a hangar beside my house. In California that would cost many millions of dollars. In Florida, there appear to be numerous very nice airparks scattered over the state and we are coming down to at least explore some of the options available. The idea of an amphibious plane is very enticing to me and Florida has literally thousands of landing spots available from what I can see. Are there any particular caveats other than the maintenance and flying issues associated to landing on the many lakes in Florida? Tim

"Sure you want to do this? As a person who lived in the bay area for many years and currently lives in FLA, I prefer the bay area." This is exactly why I'm asking for suggestions here. Why do you say this? I am genuinely interested. Tim

I did an oil analysis last week and it came back perfectly in line with the previous ones. Filter showed no metal at all. What finally made the decision was when I had two different 30+ year A&P/IA's tell me that "something is wrong. The engine is talking to you and you need to listen to it". Some people may dismiss that but I do not. The fact that everything was fine two weeks ago and then all of a sudden the engine started getting tight was enough to open this can of worms. Yes, it will be expensive but I will fly without the worry when it's all said and done. The engine shop should have it all apart and diagnosed today.

Byron, Long story short, that is what I'm afraid of. When the engine is cold the end play is correct and prop turns easy. Warm engine and everything gets tight and no end play. I'm concerned it spalled a main bearing or the crank. Decided to just bite the bullet and open it up to find out exactly what is going on. Tim

TJ, The overhaul is not based on time. It is unfortunately based on need. The bottom made almost 2500 hours. Top was just done 300 hours ago. Boat is definitely a great choice for some. We just need a bit more room w the mother in law OR75, i will check out that thread. Thank you. Tim

TJ, Thank you for that service instruction number. At present I am planning to use a local engine shop rather than lycoming. Do you know if they have to replace the case or just the accessory cover to make the change? What about the crankshaft? I noticed the bolt hole on the single mag crank is smaller than on the dual mag. Is that something that can be machined or is replacing the crank mandatory? Also, I just posted on the Florida Fliers tab a question about property purchase. Maybe you would be willing to offer first hand knowledge there as well? Thank you, Tim

Good Day all you Florida Flyers, This is my first post on your tab as. I live in California presently. It is your advice I seek on possibly locating a retirement airpark property somewhere in Florida. The wife (and possibly mother in law) are considering a property in Florida. Probably prefer something a bit inland to minimize the hurricane issues. Somehow the chance of an earthquake doesn't seem to bother the ladies but a hurricane does. We have been performing online searches for the last few weeks and have located several nice properties. The options in Florida seem to dwarf most other states. We have looked at the usual suspects, Spruce Creek, Cannon Creek, Jumbolair, etc. What I was hoping the forum could offer is first hand information on what it's like to live at "your" location ? If you had it to do all over again, what would you do different, if anything? Do you know of a really nice place you would highly recommend, and why? Other caveats? We have a trip scheduled for December 9-13th to view several properties we are interested in but would welcome other opportunities to see something off the beaten path, so to speak. We will be flying in to Orlando and staying close by. This seemed like a good central location for driving any given direction in our search. Our budget is roughly a million dollars. I don't really want to spend it all unless there is something that just makes me. Having something on a large inland body of water with direct runway access and large, nice hangar is really high on our list of desirables (OK maybe just my list). What say you Mooniacs? Thank you, Tim

What prompted you to use the 18020 instead of the 8163A? Is that just a newer part number ? On the applicability chart, Weldon lists both part numbers for the M20J.

Gentleman, The time has come to overhaul my I0 360 A3B6D. I had a long talk with the engine shop today about a couple of different options while it is down and open for change. If the case and crank are still good, they are to machine and return the engine as is. Having never been a fan of the D mag, I talked with him about changing to single mags if the case were unusable for any reason. It is my understanding this is a fairly common practice to change cases and eliminate the D mag. Are there any particular caveats to making a change if this becomes an issue? If the twin mags replace the single mag, where do you suggest mounting the oil filter? Would you get a remote filter and mount it on the right front firewall, or is there a better solution? My engine has always been hard to start when cold so the single mags would allow the installation of the Slick Start option. Do any of you have a a Slick Start and if so, does it work as advertised on a fuel injected engine? What about removing the RAM air? I can't really see any increase with the current system and would just as soon get rid of it. Do you just fiberglass over the hole? Is there a cap to seal it up so I can remove the flapper and cable? Is it worth the trouble to remove or, just leave it alone? Any other suggestions while everything is opened up? Thank you, Tim

Not really the answer you are looking for but, go LED. The difference in visibility is dramatic day or night and the power draw is significantly less. The Whelen units are self contained and easy to install.

Am I the only one that uses Softcomm headsets? I have two of the C100 sets. They have built in ENR that runs off of plane power. No annoying battery packs. A built in PTT that I have had use for more than once when the planes PTT malfunctioned. Built in phone plug that works very well. And just two weeks ago I sent one back to the factory after 13 years of use. It had developed some static due to a loose or cracked connection somewhere. They completely replaced the entire wiring harness, ear covers, mic and boom, headset padding and sent me a new phone plug cord. The darn thing looked new when I got it back. Total cost was $111 refurb and shipping. I realize a lot of people are sold on the much more expensive sets. I agree they are nice. I have flown with Bose, Sennheiser, David Clarks, etc. A couple of them are a little bit clearer, but not $600 worth. Not once have I ever been unable to hear a transmission because of my cheaper yet, in my opinion, really good headsets. Getting back to the OP's question. If you turn off the power to the headsets in flight, there is a noticeable difference in the noise but the passive attenuation is still good. I do not have a method to measure the noise in my cockpit except to say that it is loud if I take off my headset. The Powerflow exhaust increased my cabin noise noticeably but the ENR makes it comfortable. Just my 2 cents worth

And as Mel Brooke's would say "Hrrmmmph, Hrrmmmph, Hrrmmmph" as we all bang on the table in agreement. Thank you, Tim

When we replaced my glass last year, I used these guys for my sealant. They had the best price I could find and I had the stuff in 2 days. Very easy to deal with. Just call direct and tell them what you need. http://www.altamontaviation.com

I worked full time as a flight nurse in Bell Jet Rangers for almost 5 years and have nothng but great memories of the experiences. Each year our pilots would do their emergency training with a Bell factory test pilot. He would drive his motor home into the parking lot and tie in to the hangar power for the week. They would install the left seat and fly with duals for this training. I would routinely request to ride with them for the training. After the third year of my flying with them I had gotten to know the test pilot pretty well. We were sitting having breakfast in the hangar one morning when the test pilot made me an offer I couldn't believe. He asked if I wanted to go out and fly right seat with him. This was a no brainer. We boarded and pulled up into a high hover. He asked if I was ready to take over and put his arms across his chest and said "your ship". This was absolutely awesome. I had flown a Bell 47 enough to have a general idea what I should be doing so off we went to the airport. We spent the next 45 minutes going thru the entire repertoire of emergency maneuvers. Full auto rotations to the deck with me following him on the controls. Simulated stuck rudder pedal where he actually flew it to the ground and did a run on landing. I've got to say, that scared the sh$t out of me. The amount of flying he allowed me to do was quite surprising. It was hands down the most amazing flight I have ever experienced and we did it in the companies dime. Can't beat that for fun factor. The next year I bought a two seat gyro copter and flew it for 2 1/2 years before going to fixed wing. Gyro's are not practical because they are so slow but they are a lot of fun. One thing I will say for flying gyro's is that if you ever did lose your engine they are quite easy to land safely in a very small area if you had to. My standard landing was to get over the airport at 500' and pull the power off to do a full auto landing. Little to no ground roll is easily achievable once you get comfortable with them. Like anything, you must be careful and not try to outfly your abilities.

PTK, i would be very interested in hearing your A&P's logic that it's ok to use a tire that appears to have cracks between the treads. Maybe it's an optical illusion but it would appear there is some dry rot going on there. tim

I found cracks in my aft bulkhead spinner assy yesterday and need a replacement ASAP. If I read the book correctly, it is P/N 680031-017 Any suggestions on the best place to acquire one? I sent LASAR an email and will follow up first thing Monday AM. Someone at my field suggested Dallas Air Salvage. Any other? Tim

We had a similar problem on two of the 650's. Changing the squelch to 45 fixed our problem.

Quote "You have twice as many transducers under the cowl. You will also have to maintain those old factory gauges because they are required, adding to future expense." This is something I had not considered was the continued maintenance cost. That in itself may be reason to go the 930 route in addition to cleaning up the panel. Thank you, Tim

Yes, as you say, a virgin installation

Approximately how long should it take to install an 830 in an M20J using just the basic functions that come with the kit? I'm trying to get an idea of what the total cost should be before I go to get quotes. Thank you, Tim

Sorry guys, this should have been posted in the Avionics forum not the For Sale page

Approximately how long would it take to install an 830 in an M20J using just the basic functions that come with the kit? I'm trying to get an idea of what the total cost should be before I go to get quotes. Thank you, Tim