blaine beaven

I imagine I'm in colder temps than most. I park outdoors and have an engine cover. I have a small car heater I put in through the cowl opening on my J, plus an oil pan heater. For the interior I have a large space heater. For the battery, I have an "intelligent" trickle charger that only charges if the battery is low. I use a cigarette lighter plug and it is plugged into the dash to feed the battery. The biggest issue I have away from home base is some of the northern airports can't support that much amperage on one breaker, with a 50' extension cord. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You have heat in your luggage area? Is that only on a specific model? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I noticed in the pictures for this bird that the skin on the underside of the right wing in the gear bay is corrugated and in the left wing gear bay it is smooth - what's up with that? http://mooneyspace.com/topic/16063-1978-mooney-201-aspen-2500-430w-gorgeous-pi/ Beautiful plane by the way. Blaine Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey all, I'm out in Australia for a short tour escorting some cadets on an exchange program until August 5. I'm having a real blast. I've got a free day on August 4th in Sydney, and wondering if any MS members hail from here and might want to take a Canuck flying. Cheers! Blaine Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was flying along today and noticed that the stall strip on the port wing is at a lower angle to the relative airflow than the right wing. I've never noticed that on other planes before - is this normal? It's a 1978 M20J. Some pictures are attached Thanks in advance! I really enjoy these forums. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I also fly in -20C and colder routinely here in Canada. For the engine, I have an oil sump heater and a little buddy forced air heater that I put on top of the cylinders through the front cowl opening. Heating the sump is nice, but if I had to have just one it would be the forced air heater since it moves the heat all around the cowl and heats the accessories. In the cabin I have a 1500W space heater and an intelligent trickle charger that I plug into the cigarette lighter. Both cords for these go through the pilot window which gets stuffed with a big piece of foam. Covers for engine, prop, wings, tail and canopy. Where I park at my home airport I use a 50' extension cord. When I travel I take a second 50' cord. The shorter the cord, the more current to the heaters. Sadly, the cabin is the warmest before I start the plane, and it's downhill from there. Below -15C I wear snow pants and have a blanket on my legs. Daytime isn't that bad, night is downright chilly. Blaine Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is my first Mooney and the previous owner had the mod done, so I have no regrets haha. The benefits are as noted by Byron. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My 78J has had the ram air removed by STC and the alternate air is automatic as described above. I don't even have an indicator for when it activates. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for posting those pictures. I've had dreams of leaving the fuel gauges and removing everything else when I put in the CGR-30P. Then in the space vacated, put all my warning lights from the annunciator panel, opening up more room in the audio stack. Unfortunately, it looks like it would be quite the job to separate the cluster gauges and just leave the fuel gauges Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did 175 last year between the glider tow plane and the 185/Beaver on floats, with the Mooney in the last two months. I am hoping to do at least 100hrs a year in the Mooney, so with the other flying maybe 250. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good to know about the gear extension system. The plane (and mooneys) is still new to me. I know some of the hydraulic systems on planes I flew before liked to sag on long flights. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No. It had not happened in the prior 10 hours of flying it. It has not happened since. I'm usually not indicating much above gear speed when I am in cruise. I am hoping it was a one-off gremlin in the machine. All I can do is monitor. Pulling the CB only works if it was an extension event as opposed to a "relaxing" event. If there is some mechanical linkage issue the CB won't prevent it. I am also wary of disabling my landing gear system and forgetting I have disabled it during a high workload landing and ending up landing with the gear up. It seems like an unnecessary risk. Blaine Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bought my 78J right before it got cold, but have noticed as it's gotten colder that on occasion during climb out it won't retract gear at 80kts. The red bypass light flashes. I either re-cycle, and it works, I put the nose down to pick up a bit of speed, or I push the bypass switch. Any one of those retracts the gear. I'm assuming moisture in the airspeed switch system. The other nifty thing that only happened once at -25C at 9500 feet in the dark is the gear extended, uncommanded, in cruise. I had the autopilot on and was noticing a slightly nose high attitude and then saw my airspeed had dropped. No warning lights were on, power was normal. I had time to troubleshoot so checked mixture, mags, fuel then cycled the gear and problem solved. Hasn't happened since, and that was about 15hrs ago. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for the offer of pictures but I am stuck with what I have. Cheers, Blaine

I'm hoping the weather holds - I need to ferry a Supercub from CYAV to CZBA (basically Winnipeg to Toronto) in the next couple days. I expect to freeze most anything not covered up, and I'm getting used to +150kt. Not sure how much I will enjoy the 95mph in the Supercub. At least I don't have the tundra tires or floats on it for this trip. Stay warm everyone! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those are all correct Hank, the issue I have is that the cargo attach points are in quite a poor place - near the centre of the baggage area floor. Ideal cargo attach points should be at the edge/corners of the cargo area in my opinion. Blaine

Happy HoHos to everyone, I purchased a '78J this fall and am really enjoying it. In my experience, most GA aircraft have minimal to poor tiedown points in the cargo area. I prefer to have a barrier type net when possible, or at the least a cargo net to keep me from wearing my baggage in a crash. What came in the plane, and I understand is standard, is two straps bolted to the floor which I believe I am supposed to wrap over my gear and tie them up. This seems less than perfect. I have many great (to me) ideas about how I would want to modify the plane with more tie down rings from the airframe, but I am limited by the requirement for an STC here in Canada. I envy the 337 system in the USA. Is anyone aware of an STC'd cargo restraint system for our Mooneys? Thanks! Blaine

I am in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I bought the plane in Cornwall, Ont. at the end of October and flew it home. There is hangar space here in Saskatoon, if you don't mind starting at $300 a month for an unheated hangar... paying less than a third of that to park outdoors with a plug in and fairly prompt snow clearing is fine by me.

I am currently use Shell 15W50, but will be switching to Phillips 20W50 at next oil change. The shell was what the prior owner had in it. I just bought the plane, so so far -24 is the coldest I have started it in. I start it, idle it for 10 minutes before I go do the run up. After that I am usually seeing the CHT needle start to move. I don't see an oil temp indication until I am airborne. I'm using the original gauges. Once I put an analyzer in with digital oil temp I'll have a better idea as to how warm things are actually staying. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am always parked outdoors here in Canada, and this is my set up: Wing, tail, and canopy covers to prevent any frost/snow/ice on the wings. Insulated engine cover with spinner cover and blade sleeves (keeps freezing rain off the blades). For the engine I have a "Little Buddy" 750W heater that I pop in the pilot side cowl opening and it sits on top of the cylinders. This keeps warm air moving in the engine bay and heats the accessories as well. I also have a 250W silicone stick on oil pan heater with a thermostat. It does a very good job of keeping the oil warm. In the interior I have a 1500W space heater that sits right in front of the pilot seat and blows under the panel. For the battery I have an intelligent battery charger that I plug into my cigarette lighter which is always hot, it backfeeds a 2Amp charge to the battery if it is discharging. The cords for these go out the pilot window which I plug with a huge piece of foam. I went flying yesterday in -24 Celsius and it started no problem. I just throw everything in the baggage area before I blast off. Probably a bit colder of temps than most of you get to deal with... Blaine

Ok thanks. I have flown it at night and haven't seen it on or light up, so I am guessing it is burnt out. I've noticed a small hole in the bottom of the yoke... something to investigate next summer, when it isn't freezing out!

Hi, I recently bought a 78J. In the pilot yoke, right horn there is a white button labelled map light. It pushes in and spins. When I depress it or spin it no light comes on. I am guessing the bulb is burned out. What I am wondering is where the bulb is located, so I can change it. Thanks! Blaine Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What an awesome panel. I love the attention to detail, like paint matched screws and also the switches and annunciator panel being painted black! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi, I just bought a '78J and I am flying it up in Canada. Coming home last night at 4500' it was -20C. I was still comfortable with a toque on but without parka, gloves or boots. Today I was moving some stuff in the rear baggage area and noticed that there are the little gills on the outside of the plane that correspond to little holes in my interior. I realize this is some kind of vent to get air moving through the cabin. I am considering taping these off to keep the cabin warmer. I would use tin tape, both from the outside and the inside. Any thoughts, or has anyone done this before? Thanks!