Skates97

I haven't had any really rough stuff yet, but my dad told me the story about the worst turbulence he was ever in during his Air Force days. They were giving cadets from the Academy rides in T-38's. He said as he was coming back from the west over Pikes Peak they began their descent and he lost complete control of the plane, helmet banging off the canopy, and just along for the ride. They were eventually out of it and he regained control. After landing and look back toward the peak they could see rotor clouds that weren't there before, or they hadn't seen coming from the direction they were. There were paint marks on the canopy from where his helmet had banged into it and analysis showed that they had over-stressed the airframe both positive and negative G's. They also canceled the rest of the flights for the day. He has other stories about rough stuff flying HC-130's in Alaska around the mountains and canyons there looking for downed planes, stranded hikers, etc... but said nothing compared to that flight in the T-38.

Congratulations!

My homemade AC. It works well but is bigger than what some others have built. I figure if it's just myself and maybe one person I just put it in the back seat (so I can reach the switch to turn it off. If there are 3-4 in the plane it goes in the luggage and someone in the back seat can reach the switch. Parts list, more pictures, and directions on my site. Homemade AC

I just made one a week ago. I think I was in it for $100 in parts including the cooler plus a small rechargeable battery so that the unit is completely self contained. I will post pictures and parts later tonight. It worked well and runs for hours off the battery.

I wasn't thinking of it from the standpoint of a speed gain but just a cleaner look and the benefit of keeping critters out of the plane. When I bought mine it didn't have any mouse boots. I thought of just getting or making some but then have been kicking around the idea of the liners.

On the subject of wheel wells, does anyone have any experience with the LASAR wheel well liners? There is no picture on their website, just a description. "The liner reduces the turbulent air flow in the wheel well, and provides a barrier for mud, debris & mice."

Off topic: I got a new Asus laptop about a year ago from work and the touch pad drives me crazy. Even though it is supposed to not recognize input if you are resting your hand on it, it still will and drop the cursor to wherever it is on the screen. This is despite changing the delay settings for the touch pad. I typically am using a mouse so I have taken to turning the touch pad off if I have a mouse plugged in. Just the Function key and F9 turns it off and on. (There is a setting that is supposed to turn it off if a mouse is connected but it doesn't work) If I'm not using a mouse it's just a quick keypress to turn the touch pad back on. Doing this has prevented my laptop from suffering an early demise... Now back to the discussion. I relax in cruise and my breathing will slow down as well. I have taken to quietly humming or singing which causes me to take deeper breaths and keeps my saturation levels higher (with years of training as a singer I automatically take deep breaths to fill my lungs when singing). It also keeps me more alert as my brain isn't just drifting off and day dreaming. Although, I could argue that I often day dream about flying, so flying is very close to dreaming

Should have gone a little further north to Logan. I was there Sunday to drop my son off. Pulled off the taxiway and was being directed to parking by the FBO Leading Edge Aviation. He chocked the wheels and put out a "small" red carpet and offered cold drinks from a cooler. I told him I was just dropping off my son. After my son left with his friends family I went in and used their restroom. I talked with the gentleman for a couple minutes while looking at their pricing board to see if it listed fees. (I had an awkward feeling wondering if he was going to ask for a fee as he was standing at the computer behind the counter.) I finally said "So do I owe you anything?" His response was "No, we just try to treat everyone right. Are you sure you don't want a cold water to take with you?" He followed me back out to the plane to get the chocks, carpet, and cooler that he had left by the step and wished me a safe flight. Great service, no fees.

I have it on my list of things to do, I just need to find the time...

That's the same one I bought. I flew at 11,500' last week for a 3 hour leg and my levels were staying around 92-94. My son's would drop into the upper 80's but with deep breathing he could bring them back up into the 90's. As EricJ said, just get a pulse oximeter and monitor them to see what your body can handle.

Some success. I removed the radio and cleaned the connections on the back with electrical contact cleaner. I also did my best to clean the connections on the tray. After sliding it in and out of the tray a few times I checked it out. The squelch seems to work now and I flew for about 10 hours this past weekend without the usual problems of the open mic/squelch sound. However, the wiring from the PTT to the intercom is possibly as old as the plane and very brittle feeling. I was going to replace it just to see if it would clean up the sound a little more. What gage wire is that and does it need to be shielded or unshielded? The stuff that is in there right now just looks like plain old 18 gage or close to that., maybe even 22 gage.

Well it was a fun time and there were three Mooneyspacers there! The museum is amazing. The collection of aircraft is nice, but the collection of uniforms, weapons, and other memorabilia is amazing! I flew in late Friday after sundown. It was an adventure that I will try to get written up in the next few days. @astravierso flew in Saturday morning and it was fun to meet Alan and see his Mooney. I walked over as he was pulling into a parking spot on the ramp and another guy came walking over as well to see his Mooney. The three of us walked over to my plane and the "other guy" saw the Sensorcon on my panel and asked if we were on MooneySpace. Introductions were made all around. It turns out that John @1964-M20E (home base in New Orleans) was on his way from Idaho Falls to Yellowstone and saw the sign for the Legacy Flight Museum and Pancake Breakfast and decided to stop and see what it was all about. Completely unplanned he ran into Alan and I and the three of us enjoyed visiting about flying, Mooneys, and walking through the museum. Who would have guessed that in a little town in Idaho we would have members from Utah, California, and Louisiana get together! It was great to meet you guys. I'm looking forward to meeting more of the members here.

There's a reason why I keep a zip lock baggie with some Immodium AD in my flight bag (as well as backpack when hiking/camping, and carryon when flying commercial). Boy Scout Motto, "Be Prepared!"

Behind with my posts as usual. Flew to Utah Memorial Day Weekend. I checked off another state from the list, flew my longest leg (4 hrs), furthest from home (475nm), and gave some family their first ride in a small plane. It was a good, fun weekend. Memorial Day Weekend Post Here's a few pictures, there are a bunch more over on my blog.

Congratulations! You have every reason to be proud of her!

We did this in my PPL training at Chino (Class D) and Ontario (Class C) but it was always with prior approval from the tower. I don't see a problem when there is communication on the radios, but to be radio silent and pull something unexpected is just asking for problems. My goal is to always try to make sure anyone around me knows what I am doing and not surprise anyone, better chance of finishing the flight in one piece that way. By the way, the guys in the tower at Ontario are awesome. Always accommodating to the little guys and let us practice all kinds of things in their pattern. Flight Training fun at Ontario

Personally I think it's a great story. If you have the time and finances that's great to bring her back to life. The only way the story gets better is if you have a kid or grandkid that you can pass the plane on to at some point. That would make for some really great story telling when people ask them about their plane and they get one of those far off looks and begin to talk about how their dad/grandpa/uncle (fill in the blank) saved her not once or twice, but three times.

My whole cap is white as well so I guess it could go any direction. My tabs are to the back and that would be my thought too. While I don't think the airflow would be able to lift them, I would think the tabs forward would have the possibility of airflow working to lift the tabs instead of holding them down.

If you have to ask the question, you will never understand the answer...

I can still read the bottom line of the distance chart without glasses, although my almost 45 yo eyes need reading glasses. However, even with good eyesight I would say at least once or twice on most flights there is a target on my tablet or that ATC has called out that I never see or like you mentioned only see right as I'm passing it. I'm in the "wait and see" category on installing ADS-B out to see if it gets pushed off or if some of these newer, less expensive options get certified. However for the $120 or so it cost me to build my own Stratux I am glad to have the extra info on my tablet.

If you get on the waiting list you get an email when they are in stock and should have time to buy them. I've had mine for almost a year and love them.

The Legacy Flight Museum is hosting a free pancake breakfast on Saturday the 17th. I will be up there visiting the newest granddaughter. @astraviersois planning on flying in too. I would love to meet anyone else that wants to fly in, have some pancakes, and load up the ramp with some Mooneys. Legacy Flight Museum

I tell my wife that guys never outgrow toys, they just get more expensive.

After my time in my PPL training and renting a plane I was surprised when I bought my plane and saw it didn't even have a Hobbs meter. Then I realized that nobody was keeping track of how much time I was in the plane to charge me for it. I could use it as much as I wanted, sit on the ground playing with the avionics, whatever I wanted to do!

The numbers on my plane from tach to engine to SMOH don't line up. At one point in its history it had a different engine (higher total time but lower SMOH time) put in it. However, everything is noted clearly in the logbooks. In addition to the logbooks I keep a spreadsheet that has all the numbers in it which is easier to track than just using the logs. I put in the beginning/ending tach time for each flight and it keeps track of TT on the engine, time since overhaul, time since 500 hr mag inspection was done, time since oil change, time on the prop, as well as a column where I note how much oil I added and then it tracks the time between adding oil so I can easily see how much it is burning. Excel is a great tool.