Brian Scranton

My bad--I should have mentioned that over the mountains I was 17,000 ft and IFR (i'll revise). No rotor clouds (or any clouds)...all CAT. In my 350 hours of mountain flying, I had never experienced turbulence like that. It was totally unnerving.

Happy New Year! You know the old adage, flying is 99 minutes of boring and 1 minute of sheer terror? Well...I give you my last two trips so we can discuss risk management and decision making, United cancelled a flight out of my regional airport--a quick hop over the mountains to pick up my connection from Denver to NJ. Mooney to the rescue. Of course, I was moderately unprepared to fly--got to the plane and saw her completely covered in snow--in my dress shoes and fancy pants, I spin her around to face her into the sun, find some towels and deice her by hand. It only took 45 mins (damn my hands were cold)...anyway, wx was clear as can be, cold, with winds at 14,000ft expected to be 20kts. Expected. I start her, warm her up for a while, and depart. Once I get to altitude (17,000' and IFR) I notice that the wind is throwing me south as I fly east--and I see the ridge tops below blowing lots of snow. Red flag. Before I know it I am in a 2500 +/- mountain wave (PIREP and ask for block altitude), and right at the top of the wave, BAM! BAM! BAM! I hit my head on the ceiling twice, the plane rolls, I'm losing altitude, I pull back power to get to Va, BAM, BAM, BAM!!!! Pretty much singing, "Jesus take the wheel" at this point and ready to kiss my ass goodbye. I give another PIREP for severe turbulence. A few moments pass, totally worried that I bent the plane, and after a few more bumps, I am on the ground in Denver with aspirations of clean shorts. I check Foreflight and see a few other PIREPS for severe turbulence, which confirms I am not a pansy. But fellas, that scared the SHIT out of me. A few days later, on my way home an unexpected storm rolls is--DAMN!--this guy a't catch a break. So I wait it out a day. The following day, I plan an IFR flight, and fly an ILS down to 600'...thin layers, no ice, and home for Xmas. Whew. A week later, family ski trip to Jackson Hole. With a 90 kt headwind for a while the cars were passing me on the ground--jeesh. This time, fully expecting severe mountain wave and turbulence it's smooth as a baby's butt. Nice! What's more? We land in KBPI (Big Piney Wyoming) where they hanger the plane ($15/night) and give us their courtesy car for 5 days!!!! Totally impressed. We cut the trip short by a day to avoid weather and on the way home, my IFR flight gets a bit tricky--we had to descend through a layer to get to our destination. ATC was awesome; I reported tops at 14,000 with trace rime if I popped into them. I saw the METARs surrounding me showing VFR with OVC at 10,000 MSL. He offered to bring me down below the MEA to 9000 where I could then cancel IFR and go VFR flight following for the final 20 mins. I figure, I won't be spending long in the clouds, and it's warm and VFR below so I'd be ok. I turn on my anti icing system (defroster and pitot heat!) and descend as fast as I can (1500 fpm) and after ~1 minute I am out of the clouds with very trace rime on my leading edge and windshield. It's gone in less than 30 seconds but still, my first bit of white on the plane and enough to make me think...

Still for sale!

I'll (and me I'll, I mean my A&P will) take a look and report back!

Departing the other day with my buddy's daughter in the right seat (she wants to learn to fly so I obliged her request for an intro flight) I noticed I wasn't getting the airspeed and climb I usually get. After about 20 seconds, I saw the red warning light by my gear lever--LANDING GEAR UNSAFE! I had never seen that remain on before. And she was flying!! Oh, crap. Thought process: hmmm, I can hear that the gear may still be extended (in the wind), I am not climbing mega fast 300fpm at 100MIAS, should I grab the yoke, head back to the airport and do a fly by or do I head back to my airport and do the same (at least I'll be at my airport...), this is her first flight and I want it to be a positive experience so I need to do this without alarm; this train of thought was maybe 10 seconds. Then I looked to my right. Saw that the gear fuse had popped, pushed it back in, gear retracted fully, warning light gone. Whew. Landed at my home airport without incident. So, I axe ya, what causes a fuse to blow in this instance. I know the purpose of fuses--and I understand the concept of a power surge--but in a normally operating system, why would it happen (even just once)? Faulty switch? Gear somehow got hung up? I welcome your schooling. B

I had the same happen to me. Did you do the ol' "clean those fouling plugs" by bringing her up to high rpm 2000ish, lean until roughness, let it sit there for a minute, watch the temps get nice and hot, enrichen, pull power back, repeat? You could just have some carbon scoring or gunk on the plugs. Also, simple enough to pull, gap and clean the plugs up too if you have an A&P who can guide you though it. Took me about an hour.

Wonder if this happens to more MSers...or if our vanes are bent or maybe hyper mobile

NICE WORK!!!!

Hank--that's pretty much what happens to me. I flew yesterday in calm weather and never heard a peep. Thinking back to my other flights, it was most vocal when the winds were acting up!

Where do they fit?

I am! It's just an intermittent stall chirp as if the air is just smacking the vane--it's probably a bent vane that is triggered by a slightly nose up attitude. I have to dig deeper but I have my hunch.

For sure--PM away. The limits are as follows: No turbo under 3000ft MSL Full rich and 28.5'' on take off for no more than 3 mins. 3000-20,000, max continuous is 27'' and 2500 rpm, leaned to 100 degrees ROP TIT 20K-25K, 25'' and 2500rpm (I think) I've found that CHTs limit making 27'' in the climb on most days, even full rich--I can hit 400 on cylinders 2 and 3 pretty easily at 27/2500 in temps above 50 degrees...

Hey Geoff...I can make 27'' MP up to 20,000 feet (that's as high as I have taken her though she can easily make 25K), so that's pretty sweet. I can climb at 95-100KIAS and see 500fpm up to about 14-15K, then it tapers a little--and I am usually flying at or near max gross and always high DA. Those number improve a bit with just me in there. What I don't see is the 110-120KIAS 700fpm climb that I have read about around here--though I wonder how many Fs really see those numbers. I routinely see 147-152 KTAS in cruise at ~12.5gph (26'' 2450rpm). And with 54 gallon tanks, I can fly about 3hours IFR or a little longer VFR with a nice 10+ gal reserve. Empty tanks/falling out of the sky at 4 hours. Hope this helps! B

I'll take a photo of the vane. It sounds once I am off the ground, past 500 ft and climbing out...and it is not on constantly...if I nose over just a little, it stops. I really think its an AOA thing--if I am too nose high it seems to rage (still at 90mpg and 500fpm)...regular stalls, it chirps once I hit 60. I'm going to fly to SF next week--I'll pay close attention to all your questions. Again, thanks guys!

I hear it pretty much during every departure...I climb at 90 to 100mph, depending on DA ( I start at around 6500 DA even in the winter so the 110mph you guys talk about with a 500-700fpm, I just never see where I live). Any idears? First question you'll ask: is your Airspeed Indicator accurate? I don't know--but I do know that I can rotate at 65 and she leaves the ground. I can slow fly at 50mph and she doesn't lose altitude. And when I land and cross the numbers at 80mph, flare at 75, she touches down nicely. So... No stall horn in the pattern and I am at 80mph on base. It has to be an angle of attack thing, right?

Ya know...I wasn't gonna say it. And the funny thing is, I said to myself, "I can probably make it--but who the hell cares? I like landing!"

Luckily, for my passengers, neither direction was bumpy--only a little light chop popping in and out of the cumulus.

Did a flight to Vegas (MTJ>VGT) this weekend. IFR, 14,000--and holy hell that 50kt headwind had me moving at a solid 105kts GS. A quick stop in St. George for fuel, since we were taking 30% longer than normal and got there in a record slow 3:45. Tried altitudes between 10K and 16K and all of them were junk! However...the way home was a 200kt circus. 2:20 and we were on the ground! Damn... Also, on departure from MTJ, I heard ATC looking for a mayday-declared Cirrus that had gone down due to engine failiure--finally found him on 121.5--he apparently pulled his chute and was on the ground. That was something.

Hi guys--selling my GPS unit if anyone wants it. $50 + $5 shipping and it's yours. Sells for $99 new... Remote GPS for your iPad or iPhone! This reliable GPS is easy to use, with a dedicated on/off button and built-in battery. Communicates via Bluetooth with all iPad models, iPhone, iPod Touch, and many Android®, Windows®, and Blackberry® smart phones and tablets. It's a great way to get reliable, accurate position information for use with popular apps like ForeFlight, Wing X and more. Just turn it on and fly – no setup required. FEATURES: High-sensitivity GPS receiver works with most apps that require GPS Wirelessly connects to devices via Bluetooth Rechargeable battery lasts up to 8.5 hours USB charging via the included USB cable Includes a non-slip dashboard pad Also comes with a useful GPS Status Tool app (Available Free on the iTunes store). The app is a simple utility application that shows detailed information including: Your location (or whether the device is still determining where you are) How many satellites the device sees and the signal strength of each satellite The battery level of the unit and whether or not it is charging Confirmation the receiver is successfully connected to your iPad/iPod touch/iPhone

Download the app Aviation Weight & Balance...you'll be able to choose from a number of makes/models, including the M20E! Check that against whatever info is sent your way. And then, you can use the app--which is remarkably handy.

Doh. Reading is such an important aspect of understanding. I take it back. But a 172, get your chops back, teach you son. Then sell that 172! I bought and learned in a 182 for my first 150 hours. Sorry for my confusion! And have fun!!!

Of course you can do it. And you should. Buy that damn plane. It will take 3 weeks to get your financing, pre-buy, etc...in that 3 weeks, go fly a 172 for 4 hours. Get your muscle memory back, nail your landings, and move onto your new bird. Unless of course you're a shitty pilot--then you'll need some extra time!

Well...Jim Mancini took me up this morning for some spin training at KVAY. WOW. That's some super fun stuff right there. I had zero (now 1.3) hours of tail wheel, spin or aerobatic experience and it was so remarkably educational and fun. We did incipient, skid, slip, and aggravated spins in both directions--and it's amazing how quickly you drop 1000 feet! That took about 1/2 hour to go through--then we did loops, inverted flying, aileron rolls, a barrel roll and a split S. I've truly never had more fun in an airplane. If you have the stomach I strongly urge you to go check it out! Thanks for the recommendation, fellas!

The complexities of air flow are a mystery, but 3 inches will do wonders (that's what I told my wife before we got married)...fix that and go fly--you'll be surprised how much of a difference it makes.

Have you removed your cowling recently? Perhaps a bit of the rear baffling near #6 is folded poorly resulting in airflow issues. Include that on your next preflight.