Yooper Rocketman

Beth was excited this morning when I shared the news with her. Wish her the best from the two of us!! Tom

I wouldn't necessarily be afraid of it. You just need to do a good Pre-purchase inspection on it and it should be completed by someone very familiar with Mooneys. I would do a pretty good flight on it as well, checking operation on everything. Clearly the engine should be looked at closely (borescope, oil analysis, compressions, oil consumption, cut open the filter and inspect, and a good visual inspection for leaks or other issues). Some planes can sit for longer periods and fair well, others... not so well. I think it has more to do with the environmental conditions as much as anything (stored outside or in a hangar, location in the country like Arizona or along the ocean, high or low humidity....). Tom

I got home late last week so did some testing this morning on my Glide Slope indication issue on my HSI. I had flown 3 ILS approaches since the problem surfaced and it was consistent every time; no command bars for Glide Slope and no A/P capture. This morning, with a different Garmin 530, the command bars came into view on the approach and the A/P captured and flew down to minimums (VFR conditions obviously). I put my 530 back in and, just to make sure this wasn't an intermittent issue that coincided with me swapping out the 530's, I flew one more approach; no command bars, no A/P capture. Based on this testing, Chad at Kubick Aviation ordered me a recon 530, as he noted it doesn't matter if we send mine in or get another one that Garmin has reconditioned other than we won't lose as much time waiting on mine coming back (supposedly the same price). It appears my HSI is fine so all I want to do is replace the back-up electric AI. Reviewing the installation instructions (Chad let me look through them) I think I understand I must replace the TC with the G5 to meet the STC requirements (not the standby electric AI)? Can I relocate the "now removed" TC to replace the standby AI like @bradpnoted below? I hate to just have a blocked off hole in the panel where the standby AI was. I've attached a picture of my panel showing the location of my current standby AI (in the old ADF head location and not part of the standard 6-pack configuration). Not shown in the picture to the left are my TC and airspeed indicator. Tom

Congrats on the the baby girl! Your nights are about to get interesting for a while! Tom

10k to 12k until crossing Lake Michigan. Asked for FL180 but it was not available so took 16k across with 75 knot headwind until we could get back down. We were still seeing 55 knots on the nose at 6k north of Green Bay.

Just for grins I planned the exact flight we did today, going back to Florida, for 90 minutes from now as a departure time, and it would be 4:08 in the Rocket and 3:02 in the Lancair, both non-stop. Winter winds are great if you’re flying with them on your tail instead of the nose. Tom

We flew back to the U.P. today from Spruce Creek, Florida. Argh......40-70 knot heads winds the whole way. We made it down a couple weeks ago, with a pretty good detour to Milan TN to check on the Lancair paint and interior project, in just over 5 hours. Well, those winds apparently hadn't let up since then. It was 7.5 hours hours home. Guess I would have been 12 in the old F model (or under 5 in the Lancair)... so be it. It's more hours added to the logbook, it was good weather and I love flying. First photo is my failed attempt to have one of my son's friends try to convince his parents (his dad and I coached competitive soccer together for 10 years) the boys were standing in front of Tom and Beth's new Florida home. My son is on the right, with his 3 buddies that came down for a week of winter relief from the beautiful Green Bay March weather. BTW, my soccer coaching partner didn't buy the stunt for a second. I took a picture of the shore line of Daytona Beach on our way out as the sun was rising. The picture doesn't do justice as the clouds scattered across the bottom half of the sun in the picture were amazing. I shot of few of the Blue Ridge Mountains as we were approaching Knoxville. Some snow on the peaks (and some clouds down in the hills) looking out Beth's window. First time in a long time we were looking at this terrain from a breathable altitude. Very nice. Final picture was in front of my hangar this afternoon. Yep.....the snow is still here. Tom

Oh, believe me I will fly whenever I can. But for dealer meetings and other mandatory commitments, I will not hesitate buying a round trip Airline ticket last minute rather than put myself in an ugly situation. Admittedly, a turbo, flight level capability at over 200 knots, and TKS lessen the frequency I need to buy an airline ticket, but it still happens occasionally. To be clear, I think the OP did a good job and will likely plan differently or upgrade to a ride more capable of the weather and terrain he must fly in. That’s why I bought the Rocket to replace my F model. I didn’t hurt that my wife was pushing harder for the upgrade than I was. Tom

I’ll add one other option I use when I HAVE TO BE THERE ( when it’s really bad weather)........ airline. Tom

It was a pretty sweet looking 2004 Ovation (if I have my newer Mooney Models correct) so I REALLY DOUBT this was anything other than an incredibly embarrassing event for this Mooney pilot. (Appreciate your tongue in cheek comment though)! Tom

Very sharp!!

Well, I got more info about the event this past Saturday. While showing a friend around the Creek this morning we passed a hangar with a M20J outside getting some touch up painting done on it. I struck up a conversation with the owner and found out he was flying in the pattern when the incident happened. Apparently while the Mooney was at midfield downwind (gear extension point) as plane three in a flight of three, his lead on final witnessed a twin on short final just above and behind a slower plane about to land. Since it was clear the twin could not see the plane under him and a collision was imminent, his lead called the twin to make an immediate go around to avoid a collision. The Mooney pilot was distracted by this almost certainly fatal situation transpiring out his window, and watching the go around to ensure the runway would not have two tangled up airplanes resting on it, he didn’t realize he had missed his gear extension at his normal point in the pattern. With some speculation at this point, I assume he missed his double (or as some of us do, triple) checks as he continued in to land, probably being still preoccupied with how close he had come to witnessing a very ugly situation unfold before his eyes. Distractions were the most common theme discussed as we’ve all reviewed this incident since I posted it. Listening to a friend of the unfortunate pilot as the story unfolded, it was painful to hear. I told this M20J owner how helpless I felt, not having a radio close as I saw the issue 200 yards before metal was damaged He commented he was surprised with the amount of pilots within view that no one was able warn his friend before it was too late. Tom

Great to see a real interest in this thread and lots of conversation. I firmly believe this discussion may have already changed some cockpit procedures and some gear up landings. That said , please be open to the possibility this was NOT pilot error. I, nor anyone else contributing to this thread, have verified it WAS ACTUALLY PILOT ERROR. My purpose for posting was to hopefully remind everyone ( including self) that we are one minor mistake or oversight from the same ugly and embarrassing outcome. Tom

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that version? The one I noted was there’s those that have and those that have not YET. I believe that implies those that haven’t better realize the vulnerability we have to joining the other club! At my home base a 20,000-25,000 hour ATP / Commercial pilot just had his first gear up on a twin Cessna, not too many hours away from retirement. I’ve flown with him and he as a VERY GOOD pilot. Tom

I knew about and had seen that video. I wasn’t going to suggest that as I was pretty sure they would think I was crazy (and there is always the possibility of more damage being incurred). I didn’t get to see the removal and should be able to post a update, but I did overhear one of the security people out by the plane talking about “ airbags”. I’ll post the actual procedure when I can confirm it. Tom

We were sitting in the lanai this morning watching the gaggle of planes come back from the Saturday breakfast run and I spotted a really nice Mooney flaring with the gear up. With no radio I felt totally helpless, watching this beautiful plane float a couple hundred more yards down the runway before hearing the dreaded metal scraping asphalt sound. Nobody hurt but I imagine some pride was banged up some. When we got over near the final resting spot there were a lot of people gathered to see the event. Every one I overheard or actually talked with was extremely compassionate about what had happened and a few, like me, wished they would have been close enough to a radio to warn the guy about the impending situation. It made for an interesting morning as this airport is really busy on Saturday mornings. A decent sized corporate jet was taxing out and returned to his hangar waiting for the runway to reopen. Quite a few incoming clearly had to land elsewhere as well. About 45 minutes after the event I drove my son and his 3 friends down to Orlando Sanford for their return to Green Bay after a week of sun down here. My wife said she heard the jet take off within 30-45 minutes of me leaving so they must have cleared the runway pretty quick. There’s those that have landed gear up and there’s those that haven’t YET. Tom

Ah, Hank...... that’s EXACTLY what happened on the flash over cases. There was no current evidence other than the notes from the original cases. No homes or fire scenes to reinvestigate. Just photos in the file. Sadly, closed minds in that situation cost an innocent man his life. Tom

It’s a good thing the judicial system doesn’t use the same rationale Hank. There’s been a lot of wrongfully convicted arsonists on death row from back before “new science” determined what “flashover” was that were freed. One poor soul was not so lucky, executed months before the discovery. Seems DNA Testing has proven old science was “not so accurate “ too. Tom

Thanks Brad. We are planning on isolating the problem by changing out the 530 and then the HSI to see which component ( or a wiring issue) is the culprit. Will post more when we get back to the U.P. Tom

I’m at Spruce Creek until late next week. Good time to look at one that will be on the market in the next 6 months! Tom

My main picks had not been changed in 15 years yet always passed inspection. I decided to change them a couple years ago and setting the old stack next to the new stack I was amazed at the height difference! Very noticeable difference in taxi too. My nose pucks get changed every 5-7 years, based on the recommendation of Darwin Conrad, the owner of the Rocket STC. Tom

That’s exactly what I do. With the Rocket (maybe a 231 thing) I have a huge weight on the yoke linkage so to pull it full aft it’s some work. Great Point ! I have to wonder what the tire pressure and condition of the donuts are? With an extra 100+ pounds on the nose of my Rocket, I get no bounce unless not pulling the yoke back. Maybe try 49 lbs. on the nose tire? Tom

Pull your yoke to full aft (up elevator). With the Rocket’s nose heavy tendency, I never taxi without full aft elevator. It will help with the bouncing too. Tom

Here’s my last weekend and this weekend. A bit of a contrast. Lake of the Clouds near Lake Superior snowmobiling last weekend and our daily walk on Spruce Creek today. Tom Sorry about the sideways one. Posting off my IPhone and can’t fix it.

I claiming a speed loss based on before and after installation of the TKS. I flew for 6 months prior to the install. My original numbers, less TKS, were always less than the ones they sold the mod on ;>) Tom