Houman

Ned, was I that bad... I do appreciate the help to bring me up to speed on formation flying and appreciated your calm attitude compared to Andrew. See you guys next weekend !

I think I do Clarence, we did many gear up and down while the plane was on the jacks, the only thing I wish I had done was being under the plane while the gear is going up so to see exactly how all the connecting rods move for both the wheels and the doors. As or the light, my understanding is that the green light on the floor and light on annouciator panel is the same circuit, as for the lines, I did'nt look exactly from under the plane how the lines match up, since I did'nt go under the plane while we were bringing the gear up and down... do you guys do that, I should have put a camera under the plane and capture the movements...

Honestly in my case, it is almost impossible to slow down the aircraft to a normal landing speed without the gear down. I would have to have the speed breaks out and be at idle for a while. I check the gear light on the announciator, the green light on the floor and alignement of the 2 bars on the light, which I was told is mecanical and works even if the light is broken. I check the gear at least 3 times and if I have a passenger, I ask them to check the green light on the floor and the lines for me as well, so we have 2 person checking it. On short final, I do a last GUMPS check, using muscle memory for gear, fuel, prop, flaps and adjust MP for altitude.

Ok, but putting aside the remote chance of failure flying on water, how does it impact an airplane flying at 14000 feet or higher, with turbo and dual intercoolers as the Rocket does, I mean I flown it at that altitude in very cold winter days and had no issue beside a bit of cooler CHT and EGT, which is not a bad thing...

Ok, I guess flying high during the day and having aviation grade life preservers for everyone on board should be good enough ! I guess I would start my descent after crossing water to keep maximum range in case something happens.

Ok if I understand that FAR and thanks for siting it, I should be legal if none of the crossing are more than 30 min or 100 NM and I do have aviation grade life jackets, not sure my jackets have light on it, I have never used them ( thank god )... Am I reading this right ?

Hi, Reviewing my flight plan options for getting to KMSN and I was wondering if I really need an inflatable raft to cross lake Michigan as you can see in the attached flight plan, at the most, I will be flying over water for 30 minutes max in either location. I do have 4 aviation grade life jackets and plan to fly pretty high ( around 14K to 16K feet ), not sure what is legal in US, what is recommanded and what is overkill since plane will be packed with camping stuff, fuel and 2 pilots, we will be near the max weight. All flights will have to be VFR, since neither pilot is IFR rated yet. Thanks !!!

We all want to see his prop.. !!!!

Well in this case sample was taken at annual during oil change, mid flow, the plane had not been flown for about 10 days since the sample, and I did inform them of that, they said it is ok, they will take it under consideration...

Just got my 1st oil analysis from BlackStone, I'm not sure what metal my cylenders are made of ( I know I should know, I have the continental Overhaul information sheet, with cylenders S/N, but not what they are made of ). What do you guys think, it is my 1st oil analysis, and not any bad news, but just curious. P.S. The engine is the Rocket Converted TSIO 520NB 17B 305 HP Thanks...

How much was the value insured, I guess an R44 in good shape runs into the 300k to 500K, right ???

Erik, you are not flying in to Kosh to show us that 4 blade prop ???

I just did the same thing, 2 full days (12h each ) of owner assisted annual. I did all of the following with my mechanic's supervision : AD, SB and SI search... Removal and install all the access panels under the wing and belly. Removal of spark plugs ( he did the cleaning, gaping and reinstall with a electronic torque wrench ). Lubricating all the lubrication points for gear and all. Help him jack the plane. Cleaning and lubricating the wheel barrels with his tools. testing gear with him... ELT cert was given to local shop... Basically I did all the jobs that didn't require that much knowledge and he showed me how to do those jobs, in a monkey see monkey do kind of way, we saved a lot of times, hell there are so many panels and lubrication points in the Mooney. My annual and all the parts and everything cost me about 1500$ including the labor, parts, ELT cert, and calibrating my Airspeed safety switch, I was very happy with that, plus added benefits of seeing every part and system in the plane that I put my life in. We did it a Friday and Saturday, so I only lost 1 day of work, not a big deal...

Well I'm in Canada, so not sure if insurance is cheaper is the states, also, haul coverage of 150K for a complexe airplane with a pilot that had 0 hours on complexe or retractable. Out of all insurance providers, I had only 1 that was willing to insure me, so had no choice, this year, it was much easier and hopefully it will keep dropping next year..

Same here, I was a 135h pilot before getting the rocket and paid 4600$ for 150K coverage on it. Just renewed after 85h on it and pursuing my IFR. The price went to 3200$... pretty sizable drop and happy about that.

Can someone post the company website that sell these. I can swear I had seen it somewhere, either LASAR or some other MSC... Thanks !!!

I'm an IT guy, used to be more technical, as an IT architect, now with a few gray hair, I'm more into project and team management !!!

I would buy them in a heart beat if they were for a K. I see that it shows only 25 gal, where I have 36 g in each tank...

Great news Ted, hope all goes well and we can get some formation flying done this weekend ! I would really appreciate a safety pilot, I only have couple of hours of formation flying and being cautious and slow on picking this up, I rather be safe !!!

Well I have decided to go for ADS-B, but now what technology ? During my flight planning, I use ForeFlight for most things, route planning, weather, winds and all, but once in the aircraft, my primary navigation is on my GTN 650. I use the ForeFlight during flight to look for radio frequencies and airport data confirmation and all. I called Garmin just for fun and they told me I need a bunch of stuff to be ADSB-In and Out for 2020 and get weather and traffic on my GTN 650. I would need a Flight Stream 210, GLD88 for weather and traffic, plus new transponder with Extender squitter since I can fly higher than FL180, or upgrade my current GPS. I think all of that will have to wait to somewhat near 2020, and just go with Stratus 2 for now and get use to looking at my Ipad for traffic and weather during flight ! I'm sure cheaper or better solution will come up as we get near 2020 and the heap of aircraft will need to update to meet the ADS-B 2020 requirements.

See you there Erik, I'm going with the Caravan, so staging at MSN and departing Sunday for Osh... See your 4 blade prop there !!!

Great, we can refill it there. Thanks !

Hi, It will be my 1st time to Oshkosh and I'm wondering if there is easily accessible O2 refill for my bottle once there. Just in case I decide to fly back at higher altitude. Thanks !

Ned, Yves was telling me maybe you want to do some formation practice before going to the Caravan, will you have time to do some engine pampering before ? I'm free next weekend and if we can get Andrew ( Formation CFI ) to sit on my right side, I can get more training as well. Thanks !

Erik, on my flight today, I used Garmin pilot eval mode that I had downloaded since your post, and have to say for restricted zones and ability to decluter the map on screen, I was impressed. I will look into getting a subscription, I think it is worth it... Thanks for the suggestion