Yooper Rocketman

Very NICE LOOKING Mooney! Tom

My last two annual recurrent training sessions for my Lancair IVPT were signed off by a recently retired A-10 pilot. Very impressive professional pilot! Tom

And you thought the fuel cost on my IVPT was high? Wait until you tank that the first time. Tom

I almost ALWAYS agree with you. But, don’t let your yearly support lag as you’ll see this pretty regularly if you run past one year before you make your “Annual Contribution “. Tom

Auto gas in my home town today was $1.19 My wife couldn't get $11 in my empty Prius. Tom

This is a product terribly in need of a company to support it. I wish you guys the best of success. It’s a very good product and if you can add “CUSTOMER SERVICE” to the product. ....... you WILL BE successful!!! Wishing you the best of success!! Tom

Or better yet, one of these. Tom

How much do the two of you weigh? Tom

My wife, daughter and two grandchildren came down from Appleton, WI to Orlando Sanford a week ago Wednesday. The 160 passenger plane had 50 passengers on it. There even looked to be “social distancing” being practiced. My daughter and grandchildren were to fly out yesterday but the flight was canceled. There were two flights Saturday morning about 1 1/2 hours apart with 6 seats booked on one and 30 on the other. She took her best guess which one wouldn’t get canceled and rebooked. As of this morning one was canceled and the one she picked is still scheduled, with 39 passengers. Good thing as otherwise we would be filling the Lancair for the trip back. Tom

I couldn’t agree more with Clarence! The tie down was not designed for that kind load and the nose gear retracts AFT. The main gear is the most stout and retracts at a right angle to the load you would be placing on it. I’ve seen far too many pictures and videos of “what can go wrong” with scenarios like this. It’s just not worth the risk. Tom

By no means am I picking on you. Just lamenting I don’t have to be as smart as you or some others on this forum to actually be of some value. Tom

I WAS THINKING EXACTLY THAT, as I was complaining about my 48 gallon per hour fuel burn to ATC looking for higher. Tom

I’ve NEVER PAID someone to change a tire for me. Guess this dumb Yooper has a few skills of value. Tom

I’m a night sky / star gazer. It’s always been this way where I live. In the country in a sparsely populated area out of the mainstream of our country. Although I have always enjoyed living here I guess some things have just been taken for granted. Tom

Flew to Florida today for a couple weeks of weather break from winter. It was 5 degrees when I departed the U.P. this morning, and 80 when I landed at Spruce Creek. I did a slight detour, picking up a friend at KOSU (Columbus, OH) and dropping him off at KAAF (Apalachicola, FL), so he could drive his mom home. Had an interesting departure from KOSU. Held at 12k and lower for the first 30 minutes due to no INDY Center available until into Kentucky (suspect “the Virus”). It was really weird seeing an Airbus go by me at 10k, cruising along patiently waiting for higher as we got farther south. Thought I was going to need a fuel stop if I was stuck there much longer. Tom

Indy Center was having issues today too. I flew from the U.P. to KOSU (Columbus, OH) on my trip to Florida because I was picking up and dropping a friend off in KAAF to drive his mom home. Picking up my clearance I was cleared to 3k, expect 10k in 10 minutes??? I asked the controller “ did I screw up my flight plan, thought I filed FL280? He said no, Indy Center was down (I assume “THE VIRUS”) and all traffic south until ATL Center was being handled by approach controllers and nothing above 13k would be available. I got passed by an Airbus motoring along at 10k. That was weird! i DID eventually get an Indy controller south of KCVG and got FL280 before I had to add a fuel stop. This plane DRINKS FUEL down low! Tom

Ed, Be careful with this guy. He SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE of the hub grease limitation. He seems a little zealous to me. Also, pick your "Airworthy" items and concentrate on those. You can progressively (over time) fix some of the other stuff, making this a more affordable annual. I was talking to Chad Kubick (Kubick Aviation) a few years ago about how much longer my squawk lists were when I did my annuals than when he did, fully admitting I'm a lot more picky and didn't want someone buying my Rocket that questioned what kind of annuals I was doing. I did a lot of them, but always had him do one every few years for a different set of eyes. (When he was really busy, he would ask me to do my own annual with Steve and Mark , my A&P best friend and the other an IA that does a lot of work for me). He said "if we wrote up everything YOU wrote up, we would never get anyone returning for work again". He was correct. My labor is a lot cheaper than his shops. And, I was being extra fussy. Sounds like your guy is doing that too. Maybe he's trying to make a name for himself but, in the end, you will still be writing the check. Tom

Did two round trips to KOSU this weekend, picking up and returning my good friend Joe so we could review progress on his Lancair IVPT in my hangar. Did the 1,000 mile round trip this afternoon in under 4 hours with a 40+ minute fuel top off at OSU. What an amazing home built airplane. Got to see a pretty sunset flying northbound through Lower Michigan, looking out at the shore of Lake Michigan. Tom

With what you do for a living how could flying ever come close to stressful? Tom

I will explain in another thread at some point. I Don’t want to hi jack this one. Tom

Sorry, I’m Mooneyless right now (although I will be managing the preparation to sell a very nice E Model this spring for my best friends wife (he passed on Veterans Day). But ......... I could give you quite the tour of a couple Lancair IVP Propjets in my hangar, one completed and flying, one completely open in final stages of completion. I’m out there nearly every day trying to finish the second one. Everybody in the airport knows me and can direct you to my hangar. Tom

Sorry. That’s 500 miles out of my neighborhood but I appreciate the referral. Tom

Seriously? So the propagation continues. Only those with an A&P are credible? And how often is recurrent training required? NEVER. I know A&P’s .......... ah, never mind. I will take the high road here. Maybe a more appropriate question is how many hold a current IA, as they actually hold a certificate requiring currency. Or maybe we could avoid chest pounding and at least stay somewhere close to the OP’s topic, giving him an actual answer that is honest, explained and correct I will resist going down this road any farther. And no I don’t hold an A&P. Send me to the bottom of the barrel. Tom

Four pages on whether you can install a USB port in a certified airplane that doesn't have the FAA's blessing? And you wonder why I built my own!!! @Skates97 had a very valid point. One of the top avionics /panel builders in the country has a USB port in EVERY panel they sell. I can assure you it's not TSO or PMA approved based on what it cost me. I suspect nearly every new home built plane has a non-TSO'ed USB port and I have yet to read about one issue with them. I got so sick of ridiculous regulations and restrictions, I saw the path to satisfaction in the Experimental world. For a significant amount of time now Van's RV series home built's (yes, just one brand of home built airplane) has certified more new planes annually than the entire GA Certified Fleet COMBINED. Now, amazingly, some of the "Experimental" Avionics are being approved for "Certified" use. I did most my own work on all of my planes, under the supervision of my best friend (and A&P). He struggled with the antiquity of the FAA regs, and how ridiculously slow change came. He thought he died and went to heaven working on my Lancair with me. Common sense was permitted! He went to his grave (recently) with his proudest accomplishment (aviation wise) being his participation in my project. And the comments to ask your FSDO ........ seriously??? I'm close to a ton of A&P's / IA's on my field AND in Florida. Getting the same answer from FSDO's across the country is a joke. They've even complained about inconsistencies within a specific FSDO. A retired friend of my, former DOM for a significant FBO in the Midwest, spent hours during my visit in January telling me about these very issues (inconsistencies) as he is restoring an old rag wing and needing approvals for upgrades (and how he's found a way to get around those without a clue, by going farther up the chain). The final straw ....... since I still deal with our wonderful certified world as chair of the maintenance committee for our mercy flight org with two planes, is how many times I am cited incorrect regulations and requirements from our certified professionals. I feel bad for those that DON"T know the regs, as you will clearly pay more in a lot of cases as you are told what has to be done when the regs don't support it. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good mechanics and they are pretty easy to figure out once you work with them for a while. Sometimes the issue I see is the foggy line these guys develop when they deal with commercial ops AND Part 91. Tom

I saw three pages on this topic and thought ....... hey, what news do we have about Mooney. By the second and third page I was asking myself....... what's the topic again? Tom