Yooper Rocketman

Mine is tuned for FL 280. 300 knots (give/ take 10 knots depending on temps) on 30 GPH. Not exactly real efficient but then neither was my 305 Rocket. I’m a pretty well documented “Speed Guy”. Tom

M601D, 724HP Walters (now GE). No over temps to deal with. Just manage the ITT with the fuel lever. It DOES like cold weather. Initial ROC 3,000’ to 4,000’ PM. It’s a beautiful plane to fly but the Rocket was an amazing plane to own and fly as well. I have 18 years and 1800 hours worth of “speed” stories. One of the best ones being asked to slow down going into Orlando Executive because I was running up the tail of a Boeing 7xx (can’t remember which model but my passenger still talks about that approach control instruction 15 years later). Tom

It's just a measly 100 knots faster. Minor upgrade from a Rocket! And actually, had I not bought the Rocket the new plane would have been done 12 years sooner. The Rocket was such an amazingly capable airplane it took some of the urgency out of finishing my Lancair. Tom

Try running full throttle, full RPM. Mine always ran warmer, to a point it was a problem in really hot weather, if I pulled it back to 2500, 35". Never had a problem at full power, full RPM. Ironically, when I was trained to fly my mercy flight's Bonanza after the Tornado Alley turbo install, they recommended the same as I was doing with my Rocket. Full power, full RPM. Tom (1,800 hours Rocket time)

I find it a little disheartening that a guy that’s been such a strong advocate of GA, supported the EAA Young Eagles program, and is not cocky or arrogant because of his success in show business, has some in our fold so quick to chop his legs out from under him. If he wasn’t so well known, none of the incidents he has had, besides the golf course one (which was pretty good airmanship), would have ever made news anywhere. HE’S CERTAINLY NOT TRIED TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT in regards to his flying. He just loves aviation like the rest of us. I don’t recall EVER hearing “continue” used in an instruction that didn’t involve moving or action with my plane. Certainly not proper phraseology for holding short. I totally agree with Paul @kortopates Tom

I won't discount or dispute your thoughts or rational. But, they are clearly getting more than 8 years on these batteries. Also, our forum moderator for the Lancair Talk forum is a dealer. We are getting them for significantly less than what you noted above. Tom

A friend from Ohio had one 90% complete, needing mostly instrument panel and wiring completed (he thought). My best friend for a long time, Steve, 27 year hangar partner, fellow Mooney owner, and the guy that did MOST of my wiring, agreed to take this project in and finish up the electrical. Once it arrived to my hangar, I found there was still a lot of other work required AND he added a full TKS de-ice system, the engine getting pulled off and checked by our engine shop (his engine had been built by another less than capable shop), and various other upgrades. About halfway complete with the electrical work, my best friend died of an unexpected heart attack. I'm sure I posted that back in November when I lost him....... it was pretty traumatic for me and his family. Fittingly, he was a NAM vet and died on Veterans Day. I'm fully capable of the wiring aspect, just hadn't planned on doing it alone. Tom

I just bought two new Concorde's for my Lancair and wish I had done more research before buying them. Although I got 7-8 years on my Concorde's in my Mooney Rocket, the dual batteries were mostly for weight / CG (mounted in the tail cone), not amperage need, so they were still sufficient as they lost capacity. On my Lancair, my batteries were 4-5 years old and and had a low voltage start attempt a couple months ago and was able to abort the start. a Low voltage start is a recipe for a "HOT START", which on a turbine will cost you A LOT OF MONEY. I got an APU start and quickly ordered replacement batteries without doing any research on the Earth X batteries. I'm completing another IVPT and this one has no room for a second battery, so we were concerned about the life and voltage drop during starts. I did EXTENSIVE research on this new technology, talking with a ton of experimental pilots using them. One particular owner from Australia told me he did extensive research for years, and found the failure rate for the old technology batteries was equal too or greater than these new Earth X batteries. The weight savings is absolutely astonishing, and the size is smaller too. We were able to increase the starting amperage beyond two of my new Concorde's, with two 24 volt units fitting in a slightly modified battery box intended for ONE CONCORDE, at less weight than ONE Concorde. Don't discount these batteries!!! If I could recoup most my investment in my new 24 volt Concorde's, I would seriously consider swapping out for the Earth X batteries with what I now have learned. Tom

ILC I must have missed, or (with this topic so detailed at times beyond my pay grade) glossed over, your support of removing the lock down in areas that no longer make sense. No need to point out the specific instances, your integrity has already been established and I believe you. Your compassion to see less cases is clearly driven by your exposure through your job. I would even give some of the most serious naysayers the benefit of the doubt their feelings towards this would be different if their view was through your eyes and your experiences. That said, I also have compassion for those frustrated about this (hell, I am) when THEY are not seeing the storm in their neighborhood. Government or political conspiracies; one need look no further than the very reference of WWII and Hitler you made, and how the Germans could have ever let the death camps happen, to see why it's not necessarily unhealthy to be concerned about the actions taken by some of the state leaders during this national event. To not be concerned would be naive. I pointed out in a very recent post the vulnerability of my local (rural) hospital. Circumstances like this are NOT being considered by my state leader. I am not just talking the lock down either. The very professionals in the same field as you, in my mind, have the ability to determine what medical procedures can be performed safely, without orders from a J.V. governor. In the end, numbers will be guesses, but I will put my money on the actions by my governor will cost us more lives than the virus in my town. And it's not lack of information. Our legislators from the U.P. (both parties) have been asking for discretion for our unique Upper Peninsula. She has arbitrarily decided we are NOT worthy of that. I'm not naive enough to think there's not a possible political reason either. She lost all but one county up here in the election. Tom

That’s been my point all along. I’ve had a tremendous respect for ILC but have been disappointed there appears to be no support for those of us under this lockdown in areas the urban communities would love to have the infection and fatality rates we are experiencing. And it’s clearly possible we could see an escalation, just later than everyone else. I fear that would mean we had 2 months of lockdown for no benefit, and then end up locked down longer than anyone else because there was no discretion applied to how, WHERE AND WHEN this was implemented. Just the one blanket fits all policy. My sister was a board certified MD (retired early due to TBI). I found her to be one of the most accomplished doctors I ever met. She was the most open minded for sure, advocating healthy and smart lifestyle over traditional treatments. As my or my wife’s physicians recommended invasive procedures, many times she gave us alternatives that we weren’t aware of. I’m still amazed the callous reaction my physician had to me dropping my PSA below “the alert level” with diet changes. I went from him recommending a biopsy to being well below the alert threshold, and he didn’t even wonder how I was able to do that. The relevance of that? As much as I respect her professionalism and knowledge, she has clear biases. Bias’s that defy her very core values because they meet HER agenda. I believe we ALL are capable of the same. Knowing that, I probably try harder to suppress those biases (not always successful) than I would absent that awareness. I supported my governor on the first lockdown. Probably the first action by her I’ve ever supported. But after the facts surfaced over time, she has been completely unwilling to “adjust”. If I ran my business this way I would never have made it 35 years. Tom

I got to fly for the first time in 3 weeks, way too long to stay current in my Lancair. I dropped my daughter off in Green Bay on Sunday, then headed to Chicago for some business. Picking up my clearance on the ground at GRB, my final altitude was 13,000'. I queried the controller and he said a LOA was in place for MSP and CHI ATC for that altitude going into CHi-town from GRB. He asked if I needed higher for some reason and I noted yes, fuel burn. He made a couple calls and got me 17,000', but I knew that would be short lived going south. Before I reached Milwaukee they had me down to 13,000', .......... and stuffed me out over Lake Michigan. Man I hate that!!! I was cleared to land at KMDW (Midway) from 5 miles out, without another plane talking to the tower. That felt weird. I departed just before sunset, and took some photos of a beautiful sunset over central Wisconsin. I had forgot to file coming home, and got a surprise when the ground controller at Midway said he had nothing in the system. I went to my Fltplan.com and submitted it (it was ready to submit, other than adjusting the departure time). I set the departure time for 3 minutes from current, and the controller called me in less than 2 minutes with my clearance (nice to know). I just avoided a Southwest push of departures (for these days anyway) of about 6 planes in sequence by 5 minutes. I was glad I didn't have to deal with the wake turbulence of those boys. WIsh I could have shot some Chicago Skyline photos along the lake. I'm not a big city fan, but that view is pretty spectacular. Sure was nice to get flying again! Tom

The current discussion in my area is what is going to happen with our hospital with our governor treating the whole state as if it's Detroit (full lock down). Our rural U.P. probably has one of the lowest COVID-19 infection and death rates in the entire country, and we are a very well defined area. 75% of our border is Lake Superior or Lake Michigan, with a 5 mile suspension bridge (the Mackinaw Bridge) separating the U.P. from the rest of Michigan. Currently we would need to increase our fatality rate 30 times to meet the published flue fatality rate. Our INFECTION rate is 6 times lower than the flue FATALITY rate. Our hospital is the only hospital within 90-100 miles. They were on the brink of bankruptcy a year ago, and not a single other hospital system that looked at us would buy us. Our only option was dig our way out. Hard work and a ton of local support has brought the hospital to within a hairs width of obtaining a 50 million dollar loan to keep them solvent. And then we got the lock down. No non-essential services or surgeries for 6 weeks now. My brother ended up there during this time with a bleeding stomach (passing out and taken by ambulance). His wife visited him during his couple day hospital stay and said the hospital was a ghost town. Almost closed down. They've had 5 admitted cases of COVID-19 in 6 weeks (two from Wisconsin). So, we contemplate the likelihood this hospital will financially make it, since they were so close to shuttering the doors prior to this event. And, if they don't make it, how many will die in the next 5-10 years as they lay in the ambulance for their 2 hour run to another hospital. Taking COVID-19 seriously, sure. Applying strategies and policies that make sense ..... should be a no-brainer., unless left to a completely incompetent politician. Tom

Yep, and you can't go fishing in a boat with a motor on it. Her reasoning, you will have to go to the gas station and buy gas and that's an infectious place. (And all the snowbirds driving back from Arizona this year bought a $2 box of glad sandwich bags to use over their hands gassing up their vehicles and threw them away when done). My fishing boat motor gets the tank filled once a year, and was filled last fall with Stabil. We mostly troll with the electric trolling motor. I might need gas by ....... October. We need sanity to this. My wife and I voluntarily self quaranteen'ed for two weeks when we returned from our Florida home (3 weeks ago). She had time to work on interior projects, one of which was painting. Nope, can't buy paint. Now we COULD drive to Green Bay and get some, but not really practical. I established a complete protocol at my truck dealership WELL before any lock downs were happening in the country. I had two employee meetings, broken down by departments and people size, where I could establish the 6 foot distancing. Everybody looked at me like I was nuts as I pointed where each of them should stand in an open area we were having the meeting. The concept was nothing they had heard of at that time (7-8 weeks ago). I went over ALL the CDC recommended policies to keep our people and facility safe. I was probably the first business in the area outside of the hospital and nursing homes to implement these policies. A few weeks later I flew to Florida and the Michigan Stay at home order was implemented 3 days after I left. I had numerous manager meetings, updating and changing policies as necessary from Florida by conference call. So, two weeks out of my business drove me nuts. I had no way to ensure safe practices I had implemented were being practiced (we are dealing with employees here, right). My first day to return to work was last Friday. After two hours in my office I decide to walk around my dealership (25,000 SF Facility) and within 2 minutes, spot two guys shoulder to shoulder talking, nothing that couldn't have been done 6 feet apart. I immediately call them out on it. I walk through the dealership and within 5 minutes, I see the same two, now out on the shop floor, guess what, standing shoulder to shoulder looking in a tool box. Now I'm pissed. I call out the one, my LONGEST TIME employee, and he throws his hands up and walks out of the dealership. We are an essential business to the transportation industry. We fix governmental plow trucks, wreckers, log trucks (supplying pulp for toilet paper), ambulances, fire trucks, trucks hauling gasoline and food products. I CAN'T have this virus go through my dealership. I have no more issues with distancing or masking up when two need to complete a project close to each other. The choice is that or masks on for their entire shift, and that's not likely to happen since they HATE THEM. So now, Michigan's governor is looking at a continued lock down. We'll see if the U.P. is included, but clearly one blanket doesn't fit all. There are 16,377 square miles in the U.P., with 311,000 residents. That is 20 people per square mile. Considering couples and families under one roof, that's probably 6-7 residences per square mile. Just for those not familiar with "land", that's around one residence per 100 acres. Now I know we have "cities", and those folks are closer, but social distancing is working fine here. Our U.P. legislators have been literally begging for a more reasonable policy in the U.P. Currently we have 65 confirmed cases. At the "published normal flue infection rate" our 311,000 residences would normally see 311 cases (.1%) . We would need 5 times the current COVID-19 infection rate to even meet normal flu rates. Further lock down in Detroit and a few other hot spots in the lower peninsula clearly make sense. In the U.P. ........ I will tell you; "THE NATIVES ARE GETTING RESTLESS". Okay, off my soap box. Tom Correction. There’s been 65 documented cases, BUT 11 Fatalities. We would need the fatality count to increase by 30 times to match the normal flue fatality rate.

I have a friend that grew up in Poland in the 70's and 80's before moving to the U.S. and becoming a citizen. She thinks this is the greatest country in the world! She is VERY CONCERNED with what she is seeing. Reminds her of her childhood days more than she wants to remember. Tom

Unfortunately, some of the best flight instructors available in this country are older like you Don. This places a lot of risk on you guys. I just spoke this afternoon with our resident CFII at our airport.....he's the only one. He's 65 years old but has some medical challenges due to an almost life ending car accident with a DUI driver speeding through a red light in town at over 70 MPH (happened 25 years ago). He's rattled. He loves to teach, is great at it, and it's his only income. Tom

I’m the flight coordinator for Northwoods Airlifeline, based in the U.P. of Michigan. I’m the longest active pilot and board member (affiliated with them since 1991, flying for them since 1994). I’ve been up and down on yearly flight count, being one of the highest annual flight count pilots at times (especially during my two tours as flight coordinator) and hardly doing any during the 3 year push to finish my Lancair. The last 3 years I’m up again; I did over 30 last year. I will likely write a book on my experiences. Not enough space or time to even start here, other than it should be the most rewarding experience in your life. Here is one of my recent special cases. 46 years old, battling cancer and hoping to see her 10th grade daughter graduate. Even invited my wife and me over for an amazing fish fry hosted by her dad during the one year I helped her. She didn’t get to see her daughter enter her senior year. BUT, for an hour during every flight out to or back from the Mayo Clinic, her mind was on the awesome (and quick) airplane ride rather than her cancer challenge. Coming from a financially challenged background, she thought she was a queen during those flights. She even insisted on flying copilot, relegating her dad to the back seat. When my wife and I entered the funeral service, this picture and another of her and her dad by my plane were front and center as 8 x10’s by the guest book. She still brings tears to my eyes! Tom

That looked like my back yard on Monday! Tom

We had a speaker at our LOBO (Lancair Owners & Builders Organization) Banquet several years ago at Oshkosh that was a retired Air Force A-10 “combat” pilot. He talked and presented a slide show on the darkest day in his Air Force flying career. They routinely flew REALLY LONG missions, as they didn’t have enough aircraft and pilots during wartime to cover the ground crews if they didn’t. I believe it was Afghanistan and he was flying with one other A-10 when the ground forces were becoming overrun in a building “campus” (4-6 buildings). The ground “Officer in Charge” called for an air strike ...... really close to their actual position........ in desperation they would die from enemy attack if they didn’t. This pilot queried 3 times before releasing bombs, wanting absolute assurance he and the officer where”on the same page”. They weren’t....... and he and his other A-10 delivered bombs that resulted in “friendly fire” casualties. It clearly was an event that was incredibly painful to him many years later. Investigators later determined the A-10’s were given wrong coordinates. That determination did nothing for his extreme pain in his actions that day. As a vet, I can say my time in the service was a cake walk compared to what those serving during conflicts encountered! I don’t hold a candle to those guys!!! Tom

When attempting to get some specific N numbers reserved for my Lancair while building, I found there was a 5 year hold on any de-registered N numbers. The one I ended up with was from a helicopter that was exported to Australia. I had to wait until the 5 year window was up to get it. Tom

Sounds like a Bonanza with rear door access would work the best. Not too many "recovering" 92 year old's would be able to board and de-board a Mooney with the wing access and drop down into the cabin area. I HAVE done a few challenging ones by removing the passenger seat so they could step down and sit in the back. Contacting Angel Flight might be a good option. I just coordinated a Northwoods Airlifeline flight ( a U.P. based mercy flight org) for a similar aged man coming from Gulf Shores, AL to Detroit by airline. Our Seneca III picked him up at DTW and flew him to Manistique (ISQ) in the U.P. Our flight count is down right now but we are not shut down. Just taking lots of safety measures. That flight was taken by an ER Doctor. I felt pretty comfortable all precautions were taken as required. Tom

Looking forward to finally meeting you, seeing your amazing Rocket, and getting you some stick time in my Lancair IVPT. Just remember, @gsxrpilot (Paul) has set the “BAR” !!!! Tom

So, maybe since you didn’t get to log some Rocket time with me, you can follow @gsxrpilot Paul and log some SE Turbine time! Might give you another prospective. Tom

Good luck with that Paul. He’s just a hop from me and been to my airport many times. Never DID get him any Rocket time. Hell, you, from thousands of miles away, got log time my turbine. BECAUSE YOU ACTUALLY HAD LUNCH WITH ME!!! Tom

So I go to Mooney Space this evening (my IPhone does not save my login) and before I log in this is the ad I see!!! So, I’m a rational (and ....... I think normal,) guy and SEE THIS on this topic thread. So who TRULY ENJOYS Marauders girls more than than this? SERIOUSLY? Tom (Happily married...... BUT NOT DEAD)