Rick Junkin

Hi Ricky, Email me rick.junkin@mooneysummit.com your wife's name and what she would like under her name on her Event Badge (tail number, nickname, etc) and also tell me the name you registered under and I will update your record. Piece of cake! Cheers, Rick

Now's the time to register for Mooney Summit VIII before the registration fee increases on July 1st to $149. You have another 12 days to register at the Early Bird amount so don't miss the opportunity! Go to https://www.mooneysummit.com to check out this year's agenda and get registered. Cheers, Rick

This is correct, we are finalizing contracts for room blocks at three different nearby hotels. We'll get the hotel registration information out to everyone as soon as possible. Again, thanks for your patience! Cheers, Rick

Yea, I overstated that a little. Using the lowest possible power for the final portions of the approach/landing and taxi gives me plenty of low power time before shut down and it usually exceeds 5 minutes. I don't idle in place before shut down to get more cooling time as it doesn't really work that way, as pointed out in another post. I'm really looking for a decent CHT drop of about 30 degrees before shut down. As far as whether it matters, I believe it can't hurt so I do it. Cheers, Rick

My training was to verify two positive indications of a climb (altimeter and VVI) before reaching for the gear handle/switch. You'll see my gear hanging as I accelerate in ground effect and retract after I've pitched up at climb speed. Just sharing the technique that's worked for me. Cheers, Rick

I use Camguard in my Bravo. I've only owned the airplane for about 300 hours of flight time since 2016, which is part of the driver to use Camguard. I've had no problems and change the oil every 25 hours or six months, which ever comes first. I'm religious about ensuring low power settings for the 5 minutes before engine shutdown to avoid the coking problem. Most of the time that cool down starts at the FAF or on final if VFR. Cheers, Rick

My airplane has a 2014 paint job on it and required touchup of all of the access panel screws and a number of chips that occurred during panel removal, which Paul did as part of the reseal job. Paul also repainted the wing walk. But if you're planning to repaint your airplane I would definitely wait until after you have the tank work done. The quote for a complete strip and reseal of my M20M last August was $11K. As I recall it took a little over two weeks to complete the job because one of my wings had quite a number of difficult to strip areas due to past tank seal repairs. Paul doesn't guarantee a completion date due to not knowing what he's going to find once he gets into each tank. In my case the left wing went pretty smoothly but the right wing was a mess. Cheers, Rick

I had my M20M done last summer by Paul Beck at Weep No More at Willmar MN. I'm very happy with the results! Cheers, Rick

Our hotel contract is pending, and we will be getting the registration information out to all registered participants as soon as possible. This will be available to you no later than the end of June. Thanks for your patience! Cheers, Rick

@FastTex You're welcome! But I would give them a call at (618) 566-5265 to see if they might be able to get you fuel, especially if KBLV is the closest airport to your daughter. Things seem to be changing daily. Cheers, Rick

@FastTex Air traffic around St Louis is relatively light for a Class B and the approach controllers are generally happy to give you vectors rather than STARs and SIDs to and from the surrounding airports. At Mid America the north side of the field is the civilian side. The last I knew there is no FBO or 100LL available on the field anymore, but you can try calling (618) 566-5265 as listed in Foreflight and the AOPA airport listing to find out where to park and where to exit the ramp. They used to have a very low volume of small scheduled air carrier operations out of the terminal there but I don't know if that's still true or if you can get a rental car easily. Boeing does large unmanned aerial system testing from the north ramp so that's something to be aware of and ask about as well. I would definitely call first before going in there. The plus side is the USAF controllers are really friendly and helpful. If you aren't committed to KBLV but want to stay relatively close I recommend KALN, St Louis regional airport in Alton IL. Fuel is expensive but they have a full service FBO and there's a decent restaurant on the field. Or you could try St Louis Downtown KCPS. Its closer but fuel is a LOT more expensive and it isn't in the greatest area but it does have full services. If you're just trying to get into the St Louis area and don't mind flying a little further, assuming you're coming from home, I highly recommend TACAir at Spirit of St Louis Airport KSUS in Chesterfield MO. Their self-serve fuel is some of the least expensive in the area and it's right off of interstate 40. Super easy in and out. That was my home field for about 8 years. But it's about 40 miles west of KBLV so may not fit your plan. Cheers, Rick

Yes, I've also had issues with Duracell and Procell in the last few years. There is a HUGE counterfeit market and the counterfeit batteries show up at online retailers and even at Walmart. Do a search on "counterfeit duracell" and you'll find a lot of material that shows how to identify the authentic batteries from the counterfeit. The counterfeit batteries are typically found online and usually sell for too-good-to-be-true prices. But paying the "normal" price doesn't guarantee you'll get the real deal either. You really need to know what you're looking for to ID the junk. Cheers, Rick

You can try McFarlaneaviation.com, they can custom build anything they don't normally stock. McFarlane is also a new Mooney Summit sponsor this year! Cheers, Rick

@affricate Had you borescoped the cylinders since you bought the airplane? I'm curious if there were any observable exhaust valve anomalies prior to failure, and if not, how long it had been since the last borescope. I check mine every ~25 hours at oil change and would like to know if there's reason to take a look more often. Thanks for any info! Cheers, Rick

@affricate Thanks for reaching out! I've been wondering if there were others on MS. I still have the load meters for the alternators and am curious what kind of indications you get. Mine are very low, like 20% or less. I saw your post about dead sticking your airplane after an engine failure last month. Nice work getting it safely on the ground! Cheers, Rick

At the risk of being declared today's Master of the Obvious, the rules for small UAS operations can be found here: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=pt14.2.107&rgn=div5 It's a pretty short read, and 107.51 is the paragraph of relevance to the limits we're discussing here. Our being familiar with the regulations that apply to the Small UAS can help us understand where to be looking and know what rules the operators are supposed to be following. The MOTO part is that people aren't following the rules so the safety of manned aircraft is compromised beyond the risks Part 107 is supposed to mitigate. Enforcement actions are occurring against violating UAS operations and there are organizations encouraging and supporting safe UAS operations, AOPA being one of them. That doesn't help us in the immediate near term, and a good defensive course of action is to remain vigilant and immediately report to ATC as @0TreeLemur did anything you see that is a threat to you or other aircraft. As the news of enforcement actions makes its way into main stream media and UAS operators become more aware of the consequences we could see a decline in the threat. But there will always be those not operating to the rules, just as in GA. https://skyvector.com is the best source I've found for at least gaining awareness of the legal UAS operations that are conducted. Select "DROTAMs" in the Layers drop down to get a useful graphic depiction of where planned legal operations are occurring. It also shows where UAS operations are restricted by NOTAM which can be useful information. Of course the UAS operators that are violating the Part 107 rules aren't checking the NOTAMs, so there is that. Cheers, Rick

Following the lead of @Jonás I figured out how to get my customized Foreflight checklist files posted here for download and customization. They're fairly detailed and may not be what you want to use every flight, but they can serve as an excellent tool for periodic review of the things you've decided are good ideas or best practices for your airplane and your normal flight operations. The N1088F checklist is customized to reflect the settings and techniques I use in my airplane. Spoiler alert - I run LOP and at a much lower power setting than most. That being said I have spent a fair amount of time refining it to my cockpit flow and fully capturing abnormal and emergency procedures. The Flight%20Briefing checklist is the one I use every flight to make sure I've considered everything I've learned I should consider before going flying. Really basic stuff but it reminds me not to get complacent. To get these into Foreflight, open this post on your iPhone or iPad and open the files - they should automatically open Foreflight and load onto your device. If you download them please give me feedback on any ideas you have for improvement or correction and we'll all get better! Cheers, Rick Flight%20Briefing.fmd N1088F.fmd

Very nice!!! Thanks so much for sharing your work. Cheers, Rick

Hi Jonás, I built my checklist in Foreflight and unfortunately it can only be used in Foreflight. I can't print it or produce a text file. If you're using Foreflight I can share the checklist with you by sending it to your email, and it will automatically load into your Foreflight app when you open the file in the email. All I need is your email address. For anyone who's interested in using and helping improve the Foreflight checklist just PM me your email address and I'll send you the file. Cheers, Rick

@Jonás Thanks for sharing your work! I did a quick review of the text file and saw a couple of things on the start/taxi/before takeoff checks that look different from the checks I do. I have an 89 TLS, #19 off the line. Do you turn the boost pump on for start and leave it on? My POH has guidance to use it to prime for a specific amount of time based on temperature and then turn it off for start. My standard is 6 seconds of boost pump after fuel pressure indicates, then off and wait 15 seconds before engaging the starter. The 15 seconds delay is just my technique. Do you check the function of both alternators at 1000 RPM before your run-up checks? Your checklist says to confirm the field switch is on and a positive rate of charge is indicated, but I didn’t see anywhere that checks each alternator individually. Is that in your POH? Thanks again for sharing your work! I’ve created a customized Foreflight Checklist for my TLS/Bravo that fits my cockpit flow checks and I’m happy to share it with you or anyone else with the same caveats - I’ve done my best but no guarantees that it is complete or accurate. Cheers, Rick

THIS. I know it exists in other communities, but I've always felt it was a primary tenant of Mooney ownership. Thanks for sharing your story and holding up the people who all helped you be successful in joining us in Mooney stewardship. And congratulations! Cheers, Rick

@Nukemzzz I didn't see a direct answer to your question so I'll offer my unqualified thoughts on the matter. Full nose up trim for takeoff would seem to indicate you are approaching your elevator control power limits for rotation which shouldn't happen when you're operating inside the CG envelope. I think something isn't quite right. I recommend calling an MSC and ask them the question, most are more than happy to provide this kind of info. You are close to the forward CG limit for the gross weight at which you are operating so while I wouldn't expect full nose up for takeoff I would expect more nose up trim than the T/O trim point on the indicator as Hank mentioned in his C. Have you been able to compare notes with other E model drivers as to what they set for takeoff trim with similar loading? You mentioned rolling the trim a turn or so in cruise which sounds reasonable, but is the indicator still more nose up than the marked takeoff trim setting? Typically cruise trim indication will be below the takeoff trim mark even at full gross. Barring confirming input from other M20E aircraft takeoff settings and if you're confident in your weight and balance data from your recent aircraft weigh, you may want to have the horizontal stab trim rigging checked to see if it is out of whack or indicating improperly. An MSC will be able to tell you if this is a good idea or not. I'm really interested to hear what you find out. Cheers, Rick

I use C for OAT and F for everything else. 0 is a good reference for icing and performance, and all of my engine limits are in F. If you're an "everything's in the green" kind of pilot the OAT is probably the only temp that you need to know the actual value. Cheers, Rick

@BravoWhiskeyAir Power has them in stock for $3K each if you need to go with new, http://www.airpowerinc.com/productcart/pc/cylinders.asp?catid=70&subcat=80&mfgid=&prodid=11702&x=TIO540 Cheers, Rick

It's important to have a protractor to determine which elevator is "right", if either are, and then align them properly. Hopefully your A&P is Mooney-savvy and is familiar with the process. Good luck! Cheers, Rick