Yooper Rocketman

Oh, we knew it was coming. But the smaller runway (3800') was originally only going to be down a couple days, while the air carrier one (6500' x 150') was for over two weeks. That changed last minute to 6 days down on the smaller one, right smack in the middle of my trip. We should be completely back open by Monday, with brand new blacktop. Tom

I can relate, Hank. I flew airline to my dealer meeting in New Orleans last week on Monday, out of Green Bay (through Chicago) because my airport is shut down for runway rehabilitation. Due to the drive time and budgeted TSA time, by the point I was sitting in my seat in Green Bay I would have been on the ground in New Orleans. The trip back was the one to remember though. Thunderstorms hanging around Chicago last Wednesday afternoon/evening during my return caused 5 announced delays, 5 gate changes, over 5 hours, and then by midnight an outright cancellation of my flight with an offer to re-book a day later. It was rental car to Green Bay (at a hefty price since it was being left there, not in Chicago). My office is along the way of my drive back from Green Bay so I stopped in for a few minutes (about 9 AM now the next day) to update my staff why I wouldn't be in on that day. It definitely got the office staff nervous, me showing up in a 3 piece suit, wondering if the office dress was about to change. A quick explanation that I'm still wearing the clothes I put on 28 hours ago in New Orleans for my Wednesday AM meeting and I've had no sleep in that time frame either. My only regret is that the wife was not with me. She STILL thinks airline is the way to go. She would have had a nut putting up with the travel that day. Had I flown home in the Mooney, I could have deviated 50 miles east of ORD and been home for supper. Tom

Erik, ALL OF US THINK about doing something new or different things based on another person's experience. If you DON'T KNOW, then you NEED TO KNOW, this wasn't a post intending to question you. I have done the same thing a hundred times in my life, saw a good piece of advice requiring some work on my end to accomplish it, and life and 100 other things got in the way before I did it. There's no better example than the CO Monitors. I read and heard a ton of stories on CO dangers, yet never acted on it until we almost lost a Mooney friend just over a year ago. Not because I didn't believe it was worth the cost or time to get one, but because it just didn't work it's way up my priority list. My intention now is for OTHERS to consider taking several of our scary experiences and ACT upon procedures that could very well prevent them from posting in a couple years the same experience you and I have had. Tom

At the end of my ordeal a few years ago, I posted my new procedure to hopefully detect a turbo issue before total failure (the last several posts of the thread). I still think this procedure would find a turbo nearing it's end of useful life in most cases. Ironically Erik, you were the one with the most questions on how to conduct this inspection at that time. Not sure if you did but going forward, after this experience, I suspect you will be like me and check that turbo during every oil change. :>) Tom

Great job Erik. Welcome to the club. Mine ended up being a turbo. I can surely relate to the adrenaline rush after the event. Probably going on the whole time but too busy to notice until out of the plane and the event is over. Tom

Ooooh. A jet burner ride. Don’t take him up on that Erik. You’ll be hooked for life. Tom

This was a good subject to bring up. Although VNE in "Certified Aircraft" DOES account for flight up high, especially in the turbo Mooneys, your margin from flutter clearly gets much less the higher you get if flying close to VNE using IAS. I'm sure our ATP's can jump in, but airplanes flying in the mid to upper flight levels have Mach limitations to accommodate for the lower pressure the airspeed indicator will report. The picture below displays how a VNE in the "breathable altitudes" on my Lancair of 274 knots drops to 225 knots at 26,000' (reference the barber pole area of the air speed tape). It continues dropping the higher you get, now being limited by Mach number. This whole conversation changes my perspective of flying near VNE during the early part of my descent from the flight levels in my Rocket. Tom

I few Chad, the owner of Kubick Aviation, down to Kenosha, WI (KENW) to purchase a car for his son and then drive it back. Very nice morning to fly and caught some tail winds on the way down. After a several hour delay dealing with a check engine light on the purchase vehicle, I flew out after lunch to Antigo (KAIG) to pick up another Mooney pilot to pick up his recently repaired 252 at Chad's shop. He needed to get it off our airport before it's closed for a couple weeks for runway resurfacing. I ended up buying airline tickets out of Green Bay to New Orleans for a Dealer Meeting Monday through Wednesday for the same reason, couldn't fly back into my home airport on Wednesday. Man I hate flying spam can!! Here's a few photos of the flight. First one is of the one of the 4 local power dams dumping energy over the spillway. I bet the power company cringes when they have to do that. The next one is West Bend on my way back from ENW. Third picture is Lake Winnebago with the ice gone, while the Bay of Green Bay further north is still ice covered. Fourth one is Fondulac Airport and the last one is Oshkosh, quietly waiting for the big July event! Tom

Frank, Paul said base price ASSUMES "mid-time" engine so essentially taking half the cost of an OH would take ALL engine value out. I agree that most buyers would prefer controlling the overhaul and having the engine warranty coming from THEIR purchase. It just makes things a bit cleaner. On the other hand, you end up with your new purchase out of service for some time during the inevitable overhaul. I'm in the same dilemma; but quite deeper into the situation. I have a 1600 TBO Rocket engine with 2075 hours on it (475 hours past TBO) and my new plane coming out of paint in two weeks. The Rocket has the cleanest oil filters I've ever seen, great oil samples, good compressions and very good oil consumption. I completed 3 trips to Florida this winter in it (1200 NM each way) with no issues (well, engine wise anyway. We won't talk about tires). If I were to keep it, I would clearly keep running it until something changed to make me concerned. If the reputation of the plane at my home drome is any indication of condition, I have two different guys that want me to keep it and let them buy a half partnership in it. Since my hangar partner/best friend/ Mooney A&P would help me replace the engine, my cost for the job would be less than someone paying a shop for everything. Still, crunching the numbers I just don't see either scenario being very good for me. To the O.P., I recommend NOT rebuilding. You've got enough desirable options on your plane I really don't think the engine time will stop it from selling, especially when the alternative is a lot higher selling price with a fresh OH. Tom

I did them religiously on my F model that was purchased with 1900 hours SMOH. At 2400 hours exactly, during an oil change, we found a ton of metal in the filter and pulled the engine (we decided it was lifter/cam flaking off). I decided to still send in the sample that was pulled during draining before I had found the metal. The sample came back clean. I did them less often on the Rocket after purchase, but at almost 500 hours past TBO on my Rocket, I have started doing them again. I guess it's one more parameter to monitor the engine health besides tracking oil consumption, oil filter inspection, engine monitor feedback, and engine compressions. Tom

Looks like a friggen P-51 from the front with that prop. You need to go back to a 3 blade.......and I'll take that goofy prop off your hands for you. :>) Tom

I use VFR charts when in VMC conditions (I almost always file IFR). The 5% of the time I am in IMC, I load one map to IFR charts. I like to know what's under me in the event of an emergency, not just airports, but terrain and other features. I think I've needed the IFR chart to find an intersection or airway about 1/10th of the time I've been given a clearance or reroute and don't find the 2 seconds it takes to flip the chart overwhelming to me. I've got enough time flying on both charts it's not uncomfortable to look at the IFR chart after flying with the sectional. ALL my IFR flights before electronic chart systems were flown on IFR charts. Tom

Don't know if this will work but this is what EAA sent me. I submitted a letter a few minutes ago. Tom http://govt.eaa.org/ctas/5adf983f4aa97-urge-congress-action?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTURRNU1qQTRZakUwT0RNeCIsInQiOiJmUmY2dUFFNU1wcWxzRWN2U2FFR3ZmMVN1eGs0cjhEWXIzd1lOQndMSTIrSnRJRThYNVBmMWJyK2ZcL0RHVXlhVm9oeTY4WVwvTFN1RktoVEFRT2hWVzRxWEVjUk9cL3Nhem00NkIzK1piZUFrd2VzdlNCS1wvOFJsUTIrVGdFVGlWTkkifQ%3D%3D

Clarence, In my business I’ve had to complete a ton a failure analysis (over 40 years worth). I absolutely come unglued when one of my techs runs their mouth before proper and complete research is done. Many times, once I’ve completed my research and determined the root cause of a failure, those techs want to completely forget how foolish they looked in talking before knowing all the facts. A few of those and they now shut up until all facts are discovered and evidence is examined. A few now even enjoy the process and satisfaction of a result that is backed by facts. Seems not too long ago I saw you post thoughts on a wing that MIGHT NOT need to be replaced. I chuckled at the time, thinking why don’t people digress to those “in the know”, and making a mental note to self: “let’s see how this turns out”. (+1 Clarence). Needless to say you’ll look hard and long for any comments from me on situations where the REAL ANSWER can only be determined with much research and investigation. Been there, done that. Tom

You need a TKS airplane. I leave my door and pilot window open all the time and never had an issue. The fluid dripping off the wings after flying in possible icing conditions is attractive to rodents. Unfortunately it’s also poisonous so my hangar is rodent free! Tom

Mine works fine at FL240

Chris, How do you like pressurized kerosene burners? Tom

Nice company, good food, I enjoyed the Florida Mooney gathering! Tom

I attended on Wednesday and Friday this week, with my wife and another couple on Wednesday, and on a guys run today from Spruce Creek (4 of us). Some random thoughts on my two visits. Traffiic for drivers REALLY SUCKS. Oshkosh beats this hands down!!! Clearly not Sun & Fun’s fault, but an obvious negative to Air Adventure. Air Show Static plane viewing; probably my most frustrating aspect of the event. We arrived at the static viewing “gate” and were turned away on Wednesday at 10:50 AM because the of the 3 PM Air show? REALLY? Arrived earlier on Friday and got about 45 minutes in the viewing area and were booted out by 11:00 AM. This does not happen at Oshkosh! General Attendance of viewing planes was very disappointing, but on par with what I’ve seen in my prior 3 visits over the last 20 years. Guess I’ve been spoiled by Oshkosh? A ton more planes and no crazy restrictions on viewing times of show planes. With the area being closed off for so much of the event time, I guess the lack of owners making the appearance commitment should not be a surprise. Food and vendor displays pretty good Much more like the Oshkosh experience in this regard. Parking crew and efficiency on par with Oshkosh as well! Air show quality: actually not a big fan of this aspect of either event but Sun & Fun does an admirable job here. I enjoyed both days of events and think for the resources and event size, they do a bang up job!!! Summary; although this is a “Regional” event, my opinion is there will need to be a commitment to the “Show” aspect of the event to draw more aircraft owners to display if they want to enhance the event experience for me and many I’ve talked with. The “whole picture” and “draw” aspects of the show are clearly comprised by the stagnant attitude and lack of changes over the last 20 years to the static show plane display area (and related restrictions), This will likely be my last trip to Lakeland absence a change, despite wintering a short distance away st Spruce Creek. Tom

Absolutely Jet Air. I was a 20+ year customer of Executive Air and was told I would pay a ramp and “service fee” for anything short of a full top off after a management change. Verified this with a phone call prior to a flight to KGRB after a local CFI informed a group of pilots a few years ago and switched to Jet Air. Their service is above anything seen at Executive Air in 20+ years and would never consider going anywhere but Jet Air again at KGRB. Tom Sullivan Frequent KGRB flyer from KIMT (80 KM north)

I’ve been a 50 hour(well not quite, but when getting close to that) oil change owner (per Continental guidelines) but noticed my 450 hour past TBO engine’s oil consumption is really good the first half of that time but seems to ratchet up in the latter hours. I just decided to drop the interval down to 25-30 hours now because I really think my engine is TALKING to me! Tom

Thanks!!! Tom

It would be NICE if the original poster would “change the title” to reflect the actual problem. Us turbo guys are always hearing how bad and unreliable they are! Tom

I almost always end up talking to “high altitude” controllers in the FL’s. When dropping my Lancair off for final body work and paint my best friend was flying my Rocket down at 12k the bring me back home. We were never on the same frequency the whole trip except take off and landing. I DO feel much safer in the pressurized Lancair with a low cabin pressure alert in the FL’s than in the Mooney on O2. If I wasn’t near the end of my Mooney flying days I would research an affordable option for continuous O2 sat’s monitoring. We are clearly more at risk up high without some type of continuous monitoring of our safety up there. Tom

My flight on Thursday took me 22 minutes to climb 22,000’ (1,000’ msl to FL230), so about 1,000 FPM at 125 knots indicated (305 Rocket) at FULL GROSS. The only time I’m not in the FL’s is when the trip is short or the winds are going to slow us down. My buddy flew his Bonanza down to Florida yesterday, taking over an hour longer covering 125 less miles (1109 nm vs 1236 nm). Tom