Yooper Rocketman

This is one clear advantage I had with my Rocket (and all turbo Mooney’s) over my current ride. I could fly in the Flight Levels for maximum tailwind benefit and keep her down in the breathable altitudes in the headwinds. Can’t do that with a turbine. The fuel burn will kick your hinder down in the breathable altitudes Tom

I could help you with that ......... but probably not for free. The next logical step for a long time Rocket owner. I passed a Pilatus on the way to Florida on Monday. Had him by 40 knots. That modified motor from my mom’s riding lawnmower was kicking butt. Tom

I ran the SS one on mine for 18 years and never had a failure. Those expensive prop nozzle retainer clamps; changed broken ones every 2-3 years. Tom

As an 18 year Rocket owner I’ve never seen any close as much as @philip_g’s do. Not saying they’re wrong. If your temps work I say great. Nice paint job too! I found a common problem was the scissors lineage going over center and then they didn’t work properly (down by the last link rod to the flaps). I tried several different “stops” on the motor mount tube before getting a good enough one to effectively stop the pull length of the control from pulling past the over center point. Worked very well the last 5+ years. I also spotted a couple other Rockets with the same issue (unresolved as well). Again, I like the closure @philip_g is getting, think it’s great if you can keep cylinder temps under 400, but mine had trouble in the summer avoiding step climbs in the Flight Levels as it was. The larger open gap in the closed position would be more typical. Tom

The question came up if anyone had used any of these products. The better kit below that @M20Doc recommended is the one I bought before taking my plane to Oshkosh for judging. They were essentially brand new windows, with many scratches from construction that I couldn't stand. I used the most aggressive sanding disc for some deep scratches on the first window (pilot side, which spent a lot of time on the bench on soft towels, while fitting the door seal for pressurization). It took A LONG TIME, working progressively finer grits, to get the scratches out just from the initial sanding. They DID eventually come out, but I was afraid I had gotten too aggressive to start. Proceeding to the rest of my windows, I was more comfortable with the finer grit as a start, and just simply sand on them longer. It's really key to use the water and not allow anything to warm up. In the end, the windows looked like new again. Be prepared to spend a couple hours per window and follow the instructions. I was very pleased with the results (as were the judges at Oshkosh). Tom https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/catalog/cspages/windshieldrestor.php

I have a drain oil burner permit, allowing all drain oil to be burned by approved oil burning furnaces, at my dealership. We also have a million BTU wood boiler. We CAN dispose our oil filters through normal trash collection but I’ve never felt that was a good environmental decision. We throw a few oil filters in the wood stove every time we fill it, and actually save them through the summer to burn during the winter. We are also able to crush them and recycle, but again, find we’re introducing oil into the environment. The metal recycling center has NO PROBLEM accepting burnt out oil filters and we’re introducing no more hazard to the environment than we would if we could totally extract the oil from the filters and burn the oil in an oil furnace. Probably not exactly a government approved method, but then when does best practices follow with governmental rules? Tom

Looks like Oshkosh. Camping there now could be done sans an air conditioner!! Tom

You headed down alone? My wife, despite just 3.5 hours from the U.P. to our Spruce Creek, FL home, will not do a short trip. If it's not at least 10-14 days, don't bother asking her to go. In the back of my mind, I'm wondering how many U.P. (snowbound) "available" woman might LOVE to go to Florida for a 3-4 day weekend? I regress.......... Tom

Agree with @Andy95W but I got beat up pretty bad here a few years ago expressing my frustration with Sun & Fun. After 30 years at Oshkosh, it simply doesn’t compare. That said, it’s a great spring Aviation event, in warm weather, for snowbound and “tired of winter” northerners and locals that DON’T make the trek to the greatest aviation show in the world in July in Wisconsin. The vendor participation is decent and the air show acts were pretty good as well. My frustration, as a builder with specific goals for my attendance, was the much lower participation of builder planes AND (especially) being locked out of the display area for experimental aircraft during show times. Pretty much eliminated the main reason I attended the show. Having a winter home at Spruce Creek in Florida and being down there in April, I would love to bring my 2018 Lindy Award winning Lancair over there during the show, but with such limited access to my plane by the public during the show and the horrific dirt I see accumulated on aircraft that ARE displayed, barring changes I will likely continue as an occasional “drive in” attendee and just appreciate an Aviation event at a time of the year most of the country is still reeling from the rages of Mother Nature and winter. So YES ....... it’s worth your time to attend. Just be realistic with your goals, especially if you’re a regular attendee of Oshkosh. Tom

Just had the same thing at Ann Arbor, MI (KARB) on Sunday. I was 15 minutes out picking up ATIS, got the full ATIS like usual and then a notice "THE AIRPORT WAS CLOSED" until 2000 local time (it was around noon). I was still with Cleveland Center so asked them what was up? He called and verified and then asked my intentions (he explained it was because the runway was solid ice). I asked if he would check Willow Run / KYIP, as I had noticed quite a few runways there were NOTAM'ed closed when I left Florida (there was no NOTAM's on ARB). He verified they were open, only in the last hour, so I diverted to there. Fuel was $2.50 a gallon more, but service was very good. Tom

Headed back to snow country after almost 2 weeks at our Florida Spruce Creek home today. Got a call Friday morning for a Med flight from ARB to CMX. Decided it was more efficient for us to pick her up on our way back than someone fly from the U.P. to get her. Headed to Ann Arbor this morning and when I picked up ATIS 15 minutes out, found the airport WAS CLOSED! Ice on the runway. Luckily Willow Run (Yipsilanti) was open. After some logistics getting my patient from Ann Arbor to KYIP, we headed north with serious headwinds and got her home. Although my wife wasn’t impressed about adding two more legs to a non-stop Florida to the U.P. trip, her enthusiasm changed when the patient literally lost it emotionally thanking us for the impact we made on her life today. And why don’t more pilots do these trips????? Tom https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N994PT/history/20200112/1330Z/7FL6/KYIP https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N994PT/history/20200112/1645Z/KYIP/KCMX

I could NEVER disclose the price he was giving our mercy flight organization as he deep discounted the labor, had a huge discount on the Garmin product he was passing on to us for the ability to demo the install AND due to support he obtained from Garmin. In addition, his 3 man shop, 5 years ago, now has 30+ employees. He is expanding so fast he can't keep up with everything like he would like. This is a A+ business owner. We'll figure it out. The amount of support he has done for our organization far exceeds any negative from this situation. Thanks again Peter for the help on this!! Tom

Oh boy. Thanks @PTK Here’s the text I just got from the shop owner. This will get interesting. Tom

I had heard a while back one of the Garmin Experimental products (thought is was the G5) couldn’t replace a flight director. Was told that by the same shop when I was installing one in my Rocket. This is the same shop that now said we could replace all steam gauges with the G3X, and asked twice prior to today if this Garmin package would drive our A/P. This was predicated by an intermittent failure of the attitude in the FD and huge discounting by the shop. Guess I’ll find out if they missed something or they know something different. Either way I’m glad I posted now before they/we get surprised during or after the install. Tom

Here’s the list the G3X will drive. I think they already have some completed installs flying. Tom

Just confirmed for the THIRD TIME with both the shop owner and the avionics manager, that combo WILL DRIVE our KFC 200. It IS the G3X driving the A/P though, not the G5 ( I initially said I didn’t know how they were doing it). Tom

Don't know what I'm missing but our Mercy Flight 1986 BE-36 is getting all the steam gauges pulled for a G5/G3X installation, and it will be driving a King A/P.. Our local FBO / maintenance facility is a pretty big and current Garmin Dealer. They assured us this package will drive our legacy AP. Scheduled for a couple months out. They know something we don't know? Tom

Ah Paul, that's not much crosswind. You're still looking out the windshield, not the side window. Nice updates on one of my bucket list trips!! Tom

I might be able to help you with that! Tom

So is that a two seater? I guess if it was a trainer it would be. Looks like this one is based in Greeley CO. Must have been an interesting flight to Port Orange Is that what you have? Tom

I saw this on the resident parking ramp at Spruce Creek this morning. Thought holy crap that’s a short body Mooney ....... and that tail seems short. Then noticed the trailing link “fixed” main gear and a Hershey Bar wing and was totally confused. Walked up to it and checked the data plate and realized it’s the first M10 I’ve ever seen. Pretty nice looking bird. Almost titled this thread “Another Eye Candy for Clarence”. I’m sure @M20Doc will enjoy this one too. Tom

Delayed our normal “after Xmas trip to Florida” due to late family gathering and weather. We usually celebrate New Years Eve at Spruce Creek. 8” of snow the day we were going to leave and turbulence reports across the route made New Years Day a better flying option, and I got to stay an extra day in the U.P. and plow snow. The ramp picture is just before we fired up to leave. I’ll be nice and not post a Florida picture for my fellow snow country friends. We DID get some continuous light chop for about a half hour over northern Georgia but otherwise another great cross country flight in our magic carpet. Will be down here a week for sure. Looks like the local Mooney owners on Spruce Creek may do a gathering next Thursday as I got invited. Wondering if they will still welcome me now that I’m Mooney-less? Tom https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N994PT

We had my family Christmas gathering this past Saturday down in Green Bay, the central location. Two of our children live there, with the last one living in Madison and my wife and I in the U.P. We did gift exchanges and my daughter and son-in-law insisted I open one gift last. It looked like a framed picture, so I suspected they had gotten a signed Packer player photo as they have done that in the past. My daughter got her camera phone out as I was unwrapping it and I'm thinking "what's up"? Then I see this photo of Steve and me flying in my plane ..... a photo I only recently knew existed. It was taken by his son when I took Steve, his son and his grandson for a flight when he was home from Finland about a year and a half ago. A bit of an emotional moment, but I'm excited to hang it in my office or at the hangar. Tom

Here are some simple things I did to get a very nice warm cabin on my Rocket. Obviously, some of the suggestions are Rocket Specific, but several of them , especially the Styrofoam on the back panels and vent covers, worked great on my F-Model too. (And, just to be clear, the Styrofoam is "winter baggage", not a mod. :>) ) Tom https://mooneyspace.com/profile/13694-yooper-rocketman/?status=724&type=status

I would say they go a long way to ensuring the covers are fitted correctly. They drove down to my airport and looked at our mercy flight's Seneca because they had an order for one. Drove 3 hours round trip and spent a good hour taking measurements and pictures. Offered us a free cover for the opportunity to help them and I said no. We didn't need one and as a start up, wanted to help them. Good people! Tom