xrs135

What exactly should be checked on the P-lead? What was wrong with your P-lead and why did it happen?

My plane is down for annual, and I was supposed to be picking it up tomorrow... I get a call from my mechanic saying that they are having trouble getting the plane started. I immediately think this is weird, because my plane has ALWAYS been a super reliable starter - always firing up in 1-2 blades. He informs me that they are going to keep troubleshooting to figure out what the problem is. They eventually get it started, and I guess when when they test the left mag, it shudders/dies. My mags are new with the engine, and only have ~200hrs on them. They have ALWAYS checked out perfectly for me, and I've never seen any sort sketchiness on either one... not to mention both were running perfectly when I dropped the plane off. Is it possible that my mechanic messed up the left mag? He said that they had previously removed the battery box and left mag to adjust the timing... so my question is, would it be easy for him to bugger up the mag in the process of adjusting the timing? At any rate, it is being sent out next week and checked out. Will the mag shop be able to determine why exactly it failed? If it's my mechanics fault, he'd be more than happy to cover the cost of this... but will they really be able to figure out WHY it has failed, and if it was his fault? I knew this annual was going too smoothly...

I'd be interested in some pics! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To bring this thread back on track. Here is a cockpit shot in my M20C up at 15,500ft earlier today in level cruise. I just calculated the TAS, with 130mph (113kts) IAS, 30.13, and -10.5 degrees C... and came up with 145kts TAS.

Well, I gave it a fair shot this morning. I bummed around the airport hoping for the clouds to break, and eventually just decided to take off to have a look. We made it over the first scattered layer no problem, but then encountered solid overcast at 8,700ft and couldn't find the miraculous hole over the Sierra's that we were hoping for. I did my duty, and gave a PIREP, and returned to land. Maybe next time! Back home now... what do you know, it seems like it's starting to break up now! Ugh!

To add to the chaos... Skydive Monterey operates out of Watsonville. You can be sure they will be jumping ALL DAY with this break in the weather!

Looking at the weather again... Knock on wood, it looks like this thing has been timed perfectly in between storms!

Watsonville at ~11AM, this Sunday 1/10.

I'm getting kind of obsessed with making these GoPro videos! I was able to get a quick flight in today between storms that have been hitting the west coast this week. Overall, I'd say I'm pretty happy with my 1st landing of 2016!

How early are we talking?

92.3 in my M20C for 2015. Probably around 100 if I counted the flights in other planes. I need to up my game. Hoping for 150ish in 2016!!

Exactly how I feel.

It's pretty critical to stay out of icing conditions in any small plane that's not FIKI equipped - especially laminar flow wings. Hell, I've been in enough icing conditions flying RJ's around the country that I wouldn't consider taking a small GA plane into, period (even if it was FIKI equipped). Like Dave said earlier... Ice is where you find it. However, there are certainly things you can do to reduce and eliminate your chances of encountering it. The FAA's rules pretty much guarantee that you will remain out of icing conditions. Is it conservative? Yes. But when it comes down to it, if you stay out of all visible moisture when the temperatures are below freezing, you WILL NOT encounter ice.

No ice. The cloud layer was really thin, and starting to break up in places. It did cross my mind though. I got a tops and neg ice pirep from SWA before I departed.

The app is free in the app store, by Stratus... it's called "Horizon." Obviously, you need to have a Stratus (with AHRS) for it to work... but it works REALLY well. The best part is, when you have a complete failure of everything in the plane, the battery on the Stratus and the old iPhone will continue to run for a long time by themselves. It's the CB's life-saving setup! Oh, also, the Stratus is able to feed AHRS info to two devices... so for me that's the iPad with synthetic vision, and the iPhone.

It's the best feeling when crap weather rolls in... knowing that the plane is tucked away in a dry hangar!

SBP could not accommodate such a large group of people.

I was also thinking that maybe we should post an 'event' on the Mooney Pilots Facebook page once we have all the details figured out... Just in case not everyone is on Mooneyspace?

YES! Let's do it! That governor has been taking forever! You have been missing out on some fantastic snowy mountain flying!

+1-2 on the 10th, pending Sierra weather!

Super Cub.