astravierso

First Request for Guidance: I am planning to fly from the Salt Lake City area to the Folsom/Sacramento CA area the week Jan 23rd staying for 1 1/2 weeks and leaving for Yuma AZ on the 2nd for Feb. This trip will be under VFR my projected route will be across the top of NV. So here are my questions. 1. The Sierra's and Lake Tahoe, There appears to be a good path across lake Tahoe (Spooners Summit and over the town of Tahoma) which will get me across no muss no fuss. How accessible is that this time of year? Would I be better off going to the north of Reno to go around Tahoe and then down to the Sac area this time of year. 2. what is the best place to tied down at during my stay in Folsom? I haven't made any calls. 3. what is the weather like in the SJ valley this time of year (JAN-FEB) for VMC. would I be better of going back around to the NV side of the Sierra's to get to Yuma? With the weather questions I am looking for general info as the actual condition will dictate the route and go/no go of the trip. thanks in advance for any info.

All, I am looking to use the MS Community as an accountability tool to help me reach the aviation objectives I am placing on myself for 2017. MS has been a great source of information from both "greybeards" and "newbies" alike and as such I can think of no better group to ask for this help. Part of holding someone accountable is that you must be willing to help them accomplish that objective. With that said asking to be held accountable does not mean I am asking for ridicule or abuse (if you don't understand the difference you can stop reading now and definitely DO NOT post on this thread) as I am a grown adult who has led Marines, raised children who are successful and have many personal and professional accomplishments outside of aviation (just as the vast majority of you do). While I know that I probably could accomplish my objectives with minimal help from the MS community I know it not be as enjoyable or entertaining ( aren't those the reasons we all interact here on MS ). So what's in it for you.... 1. You get to follow and aid in my growth from low time (150+hrs TT, 35 TiT) non instrument rated PP to a not as low a time SEL Comm Mooney pilot. 2. When I travel to your area there will be an open invitation for dinner (yes I'll be paying... Happy Meals are still pretty reasonable) 3. You get to be entertained by some of the misadventures which are likely to occur (we all have them, I will just publicly admit they happen). 4. I am more then willing to share my knowledge on applicable Reliability Centered Maintenance Topics, engine oil and engine oil filter analysis being one of them (for those who are interested) as this is what I do for a living on large mining mobile and plant equipment ( due to legal concerns there will be no warranty given or implied, application of information given is the sole responsibility of the end user ( I hate legal crap but there is always some chucklehead)). If I haven't lost your interest and you are a person who can have adult conversations that you don't view as a "measuring contest", where there can be more than 1 right answer to questions asked, below is a list of my objectives with reasons why I want to accomplish them and rough timelines. Thanks in advance for your help. 1, Use my AC for business travel. Timeline-NOW I currently travel 35-40 wks a year throughout the US and Canada (this is where the dinners come in) and I am tired of giving Delta all that money while my AC sits in a hanger 2. Get qualified for Mooney Caravan, Fly with Caravan to KOSH this year. Timeline- signed up for training in Yuma AZ in Feb. Do I really need to put a reason here... It's Airventure and a bunch of Mooney drivers. What could be better??? 3. Upgrade avionics in AC. Timeline-3rd wk in Feb (radios purchased and on shop schedule) Have you seen the current radios in my plane.......the 70's don't even want them back 4. Complete Instrument Rating. Timeline- start in Q2 finish before end of Q3 2017 (dates not firm still looking for a CFII who I want to learn from) Because I want to challenge myself and gain more utility from my AC 5. Complete SEL Comm Cert. Timeline-before the end of Q4 Because I want to challenge myself and honestly it's an ego thing So that's it. If you're interested in helping me meet my objective in a positive manner please chime in even if it only to ask for a status update if I haven't posted one in a while. Cheers,

Bob, Quick question, are you still interested in understanding the condition of your engine with the data you currently have. If so this will require you to provide all of the data you have on this engine. We can then apply standard practices used in Machinery Lubrication Analysis to better understand what's going on inside the black box that makes the fan on the front of your plane spin. If you are interested we can use you engine as a case study for the community. If not please let me know and I won't bother you on this again. Cheers,

Bruce, I fly my "B" regularly between 11.5 and 9.5k due the hills in Northern Utah with no issues with a departure alt between 3.5 and 5k. The only advice I would have other than what has already been presented is to pay attention to your density altitude for both you, your passengers and your plane. As has been mentioned everyone reacts differently to the high altitude environment . Cheers

I get that if I were in the system and I will get plenty of opportunities for it this coming year as I start my instrument rating, but we are talking about under VFR

If you don't want to listen, that's fair enough. I prefer to listen to improve my SA as I do my own thing. I used to check in until I had a few unpleasant conversations as a result of being vectored (significantly) off course even though I was outside (on top) of their airspace where they could not/ would not tell me the hazard I was being vectored around. There is an uncomfortable silence when you cancel FF after ATC starts to play "Simon says" because they "can" Before some of you try to flame me for my last sentence, if you fly long enough you will have a bad interaction with ATC. Sometimes it's their fault, sometimes it's your fault. This is just how I choose reduce the probability of it happening to me while staying safe and legal. Cheers

I have made a few long XC's without the "aid" of FF. Kingman AZ to Brigham City UT, Brigham to Apple Valley CA and back. I fly around and under Salt Lake City Bravo and over the top of Las Vegas Bravo keeping to myself while still listening. This is not to say I am radio silent. I listen to all of the Center enroute and CTAF's Frequencies and announce my presence (location, direction and intent) over the CTAF's as I go by. Using this tactic and keeping my eyes looking outside has allowed me to do my thing without incident

Bob, You are asking for people to give you an opinion based on one data point and your observations from previous oil samples. I don't know too many analysts who would give you a recommendation you are going to bet your life on with that limited amount of information. There are many questions that need to be answered such how the filter was processed, what type of wear (cutting, sliding, flaking, etc....) was observed in the wear metal particles. Also the full data set for all samples taken for this component since rebuild. Cheers, Alan

EagleDriver, If you swing TDY orders to Hill AFB drop me a line and you can try a "B" model on for size. Plus there was an F15 Driver who had a nice "E" model, not sure if he sure if he still has it though. Cheers

All, Attached is the form for MAPA PPP for Feb and Apr dates. See you in Apr in Santa Maria Ca. Cheers 2017 MAPA SAFETY FOUNDATION Schedule.doc

All, Gunfighters Yuma Clinic - Yuma, AZ - February 2-5, 2017 See you there. Cheers

I had this happen to me in my "B" when I was getting my complex endorsement after my purchase when I was on final. The instructor who had a ton of hours in my plane just chuckled when I added power and announced my go a round. He let me work through the problem (good airspeed, green light for the gear, relatively stabilized approach) which was the collar on the J-bar was not in the full up position. If you pull the throttle to idle and the collar on the J bar is not in the full up position the horn should squawk at you. Not sure if it is this happens in other manual gear Mooney's or even other "B's" but it does in mine Cheers

Without knowing your situation here my recommendations are: Print the pdf off, go to kinkos and have them put it in a pretty binder for you. Go to the shop you will use for your annual , bring the tools you think you will need for the oil change, asked to be supervised and do you oil change with the aid of the A&P or even an apprentice, then pay them for their time even if they just looked over your work and said good to go (they have bills and they are giving you piece of mind which is probably worth more than they will charge) . This is one of the best ways to establish a relationship with your shop (if you don't already have one). Just my 2 cents Cheers

Always looking for a reason. Please keep me in the loop on this Cheers

As has been stated you should work out the numbers that are actual for your AC. With that said in MY "B" (48 gal ) I plan for 10 gal/hr as a rule of thumb @ 65-75% power between 7.5K and 11.5K (Mountain West Flying in the US) which give me 4 hrs with me a 48min reserve. I usually do better than that (8.5-9 gal/hr). Besides I have no interest in flying for any longer with out a break. Cheers

Fair enough.... But to be clear FAST was not one of the adjectives I used. As for the HP question, the link below has all you'll ever want to know about the ghia (if you believe Wiki). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Karmann_Ghia Cheers

Interesting article, When I think of the comparison of a Mooney to an older VW I think of my Mooney being the equivalent of a VW karmann ghia. Both are efficient, sexy as hell and a pleasure to operate, and when operated correctly both are pound for pound and dollar for dollar better than anything in their class. And I am just enough of a "NERD" to be able to appreciate the beauty and elegance of their simple functionality with leads to a reliability better than anything in their class when maintained properly. Just my thoughts, feel free to disagree Cheers,

Hank, SK- Thanks and like I said sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Don't get me wrong there are things which I am going to improve ( rebuild the engine doghouse, fix air stair, swap the oil screen for an oil filter adaptor, balance the prop, LASAR cowl mod, avionics upgrade as winter projects over many winters) and things which will need to be repaired when they effect airworthiness (nose wheel play and tank leaks) like every other 50+yr old AC but I was very lucky that there were no surprises tucked away behind the panels. I'm not sure if it helped but I had a long discussion with the AI's at the shop when I did my first oil change about my intentions for the plane (this is my A&P apprentice and IR rating/Comm Cert. training tool) and they seemed to be OK with that. For the Annual I brought my own tool box, rags, cleaning supplies, oil, gear rigging tools, Mooney 100 insp. check list etc... almost everything I would need to do all of the maintenance I'm allowed to do under part 43. I let the AI assignment what work he wanted me to do and didn't say anything when he assigned work I was competent, qualified and legally allowed to do to his helper. I worked with the helper and asked him to show me how to do some tasks. When I wasn't doing a directed task I worked on little things I wanted to improve, like "ringing out" all of my comm and nav antenna cables and labelling them, trying to take that UGLY A$$ decal off the tail. And finally I respected the shop by sweeping up and picking up when things got messy. I'm not sure how much all of that helped with the price but it did help with the conversations about the nose gear and tanks. Brad - the logo is from a defunct flying school out of Kingman AZ, they owned the plane last and it is a pain in the --- to get off without damaging the paint (welcoming any tips on this...please). Yes that is an Aerostar in the background. The shop is primarily an Aerostar shop, they had 4 or 5 in for various maintenance and have 2 for sale (if your interested, I know I am but that's too much plane for me at the moment and will always be too much money). Cheers

All, Just finished up with my first annual on "Charlotte" and I have to say sometimes "it's better to be lucky than good". At least that's how I feel after reading some of the stories here on MS about first annuals after the purchase and with a shop which has only seen the plane when I did an oil change. The only thing found was a leaky (seaping) brake caliper. I did have the fuel pump replaced as it couldn't keep up on take off (which scared the crap out of the CFI who was doing my BFR when the "gripe" was discovered. I guess that's why we have two of them. But that's another story). Thanks go to Delta Airlines for overbooking flights and contributing to the annual fund which helped me pay for the pump and a few other parts to keep the cost down. The final tally is 2.5 Days and 1.3 AMU's. It probably would have been done quicker but it was an owner "assisted" annual. I guess it's a good thing I don't work flat rate anymore, I would starve. With that said I now have more confidence in Charlotte after seeing her from the inside out (save the jokes boy's). Cheers

USMC 84-99 Me and the Boys at MCRD San Diego in 93

Our "B" has been named Charlotte after Nana Bernier. She and Grandpa would show up without warning pick up all us grandkids and take us on a trip. While we had many adventures we always came home safe. One of the things she would always ask us is "are you sure you want to do that" when it came to unwise choices, so I'm hoping she'll be that little voice in my head asking that same question before I do something stupid while flying her namesake. Cheers

All, While I don't post very much to the group I have gained a lot of knowledge here which has made a better pilot and a more thoughtful owner, so I figured I would share my past week. This was a week of many first's for me and a few others. I was fortunate that two people trusted me enough to take them on their first flight(s) in a light aircraft, for one of them it was his first ever flight in a plane. The first flight ever was a 17 yr old young man who I think now has been bit with the bug. The other was a co-worker who joined me on a day trip to one of the plants we support in Central UT. She was happy to be able to go down to the plant, do what she needed to do and be home for her family in the evening (looks like I'll have a travel partner whenever I go to this plant) The other first for was my first Pilots and Paws flight which allowed me an excuse (while no excuse is needed to fly, sometimes one is needed to get time with your grown kids) to fly down to Apple Valley Ca (KAPV) on Friday, visit with one of my daughters who lives in the area and fly a sweet girl of a Siberian Husky back up to a rescue in Payson UT. All in all I got to put 14+ hours in the book this week while introducing two people to GA, spend time with one of children and help a sweet dog find a place she was welcome and wanted. While I could have done this in any rental plane, having a week like this reinforces the reasons why I bought a Mooney (speed relative to operating costs). Below are a couple of pictures of the first's Cheers

I ordered the 04-02820 kit to replace some missing cowling and avionics panel screws.

Below is a link for screw kits from Aircraft Spruce which may be of help. I bought a "C" kit for my "B" for times like you are currently experiencing. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/hapages/exterwasherkit.php Cheers

Here's an AOPA safety course which may be a good primer for Mountain Flying. https://flash.aopa.org/asf/mountainFlying/html/flash.cfm Cheers