Skates97

Include the D's in there too. Most were converted making them essentially the same as a C.

And they come in two ways, 7277-2-x and 7277-5-x. The x is the rating, the -2 and -5 are the short and long. You most likely have the -2 and you want to replace with the same or they will not be even and makes it weird when checking that they are all in.

I would at least have the breaker pulled to look at it. When we were working on the panel we found a crack in the case of one and another that when it was unscrewed from the buss bar it came apart. The only think holding it together was that it was mounted in the panel with the buss bar holding it together.

Dev, I don't have much to add to the conversation as I'm just working my way towards a check ride. I can't relate to the feeling of looking for the runway, seeing nothing, and going around. I am looking forward to May when there is a consistent marine layer everyday until around noon to work with, but it is rarely low enough to get you to minimums. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of worry/concern when descending and under the foggles because I have a CFII in the right seat and there is the trust that he doesn't want to hit something any more than I do, so if I was off on my altitude or alignment I have trust in him that he is going to say something. I can imagine it is a much different feeling descending through the clouds, either with someone on board or alone... It reminds me of a story my dad told. Part of his time in the Air Force was as an instructor in T-38's. They were on a cross country with the student under the hood. At one part of the flight they were in IMC and he told the student he could take it off and look around. After a couple minutes the student asked if he could go back under the hood, it seemed he was more comfortable thinking that at least my dad could see outside and what was going on. I will mention one comment about the advisory glideslope. The RNAV RWY 24 approach into KFUL is an LNAV but the GNC355 does provide an advisory glideslope. When we flew it last Friday evening I crossed the FAF and then started the descent down watching for the MDA and keeping the dot on the advisory glideslope centered. The MDA is 900' so I reached up to pull the foggles off right about 920'. There was the runway right in front of us, but the PAPI was showing 1 white and 3 red. The dot was still centered on the advisory glideslope, but we were just a touch low. It was a good experience to file away from my training, and if I'm ever tempted to try and follow that advisory glideslope as you mentioned below the MDA I need to remember that experience and go around.

As far as the vest go they shouldn't be stowed. You and your passengers should be wearing them when you get in the plane.

When mine was leaking enough that it needed to be replaced I replaced it with a SAF F-50. It is a two piece drain. There is a cap that screws on and acts as a second seal of sorts if the one in the valve leaks. The only downside is that to drain it you need to make sure you have the F50-180 opener that screws on the valve. It comes with it when you buy it and I just keep it in the little box in the plane where I have a couple spare wrenches, spare spark plug, and a couple quarts of oil. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/saf_airF62.php?clickkey=5469

Have the engine washed down, have them put some fluorescent dye in the oil, fly it around the pattern once, then put a black light on it. Any more flying than once around the pattern may likely blow it all over and you won't have any idea where it is coming from. It is not uncommon to see the oil showing up in a different area under the cowling than where it is originating from.

I can second the recommendation by Oscar for the Drift Camera. The regular Ghost X will run you $100 and get you close to 5 hours battery if you don't have the WiFi turned on. I wrote an article in this month's Mooney Flyer about different cameras and mounts. After writing the article I did a test to see if the NFlightCam cable that says it is for the GoPro Hero 3 will also plug into the the Drift Ghost to capture audio, it does and the sound is clear. The Mooney Flyer - Cameras, Mounts, and Cables Drift Ghost X - $99 Drift Ghost X 4K - $250

He makes me work and lets me make mistakes as long as they aren't putting us in a bad situation. I'm glad he isn't constantly telling me what to do or to "watch you/heading/altitude/speed or whatever." Letting me get behind the plane and try to catch up, fumble with the GPS trying to get it programmed for a change on the fly, asking ATC to "Say again for 878" instead of telling me what they said when I didn't get all of the transmission are the lessons that really stick. If I ask him he questions answers or if I need help with something he will but otherwise he's letting me muddle through it in the air.

Flights 9 and 10 last week. Flight 9 was Wednesday evening, we filed and flew from KFUL to F70, landed, picked up our clearance and flew back. On both flights we did not fly a single segment or point that we had been cleared for, the flights were entirely radar vectors and assigned altitudes. That was a good excercise. Flight 10 was Friday evening. We picked up flight following and shot the RNAV into KCNO, went missed back to the PDZ VOR for a hold, followed by the VOR/GPS-A approach to KAJO, went missed and picked up vectors to the RNAV into KFUL for a full stop. That was a very busy flight but a great learning experience. If you want to read about the entire flights you can on my blog. https://intothesky.com/2021/04/11/ifr-training-flights-9-10-new-challenges/

It was ALL in the burger, even a slice of cheese hiding out in there. A recalculated weight and balance was in order before departing....

A few more.

Flew to Santa Barbara for lunch with some friends. They were in their Moose and we did a little loose formation on the way to get some pictures. We brought our good camera with the zoom lens and got some pics for them, they took some with an iPhone that are nice, just no close up. On the way back just after going over LAX through the Special flight Rules area we got to fly past the Goodyear Blimp. I had the most amazing burger, sliced bratwurst, bacon, onion strips, and BBQ sauce.

Upon @Hyett6420's recommendation and after his Mooney Summit presentation in 2019 we bought 2 Spinlock Deckvests. They are a little pricier than the $100 ones you can get but when you consider it is a one time purchase and look at everything the vest has it is worth it. When we decided we would take others with us to Catalina or along coastal flights I debated in my head if I wanted to spend that much money for two more that would get rarely used or just buy a couple of the $100 variety. It wasn't much debate in my head before deciding there is no way I could live with the guilt if we ditched and my wife and I survived but the passengers didn't because I went cheap on the life vest. So, I bought two more Spinlock Deckvests, this time the 6D model which is even more comfortable than the 5D's we had purchased. We wear the 6D (more comfortable) and they get the 5D (still comfortable). The extra two don't get used often and hang on hooks in the hangar, but we have them if needed. Anytime we are flying over water or along the coast we have them and wear them. Having them in the back seat is not so helpful, just put them on before you take off. Often along the coast here in the water is the best place to ditch. Yesterday we went to Santa Barbara for lunch. The departure on 15R/L takes you off the coast so before climbing in the plane and starting up we put on the life vests. Departure kept us on runway heading until we were 7 miles off the coast before letting us turn and resume navigation. Nothing went wrong but I was glad to have the life vests on as they held us at 1,500 initially and then up to 3,500 so we were well away from gliding distance. Honestly after a couple minutes you forget you are wearing it, they really are comfortable. I also have a PLB that stays in the plane. It hangs from a lanyard off the center post when I'm not flying and before starting up it goes around my neck. If you aren't wearing something and you put down off airport you might as well not have it because who knows where it will end up inside the cabin. Even if it is just a short local flight I wear the PLB. If you have to put down somewhere away from a road you might not be easy to spot and don't count on cell service. Here are links for a couple places that sell the Spinlock Deckvest 6D. I bought all of mine through The Binnacle on Ebay, good service, fast shipping. $299/ea may sound expensive, but you're going to spend at least $100/ea anyway, why not the extra? You only buy them once and Andrew said your life (and your passenger's) is priceless. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Spinlock-Deckvest-6D-Inflatable-Lifejacket-Vest-New/174343540140 - The Binnacle $299.95/ea https://www.landfallnavigation.com/catalog/product/view/id/98684.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwvMqDBhB8EiwA2iSmPAiA2hzfb7DHDhlPZActX89eYJ4QlUp3j7FsArPf81JaRYk54TS0ZxoCyWAQAvD_BwE#132=30589 - Landfall Navigation $295.20/ea

They do, have a set in the back pocket of the seats. I've just found a few squares of the cling type window tint are easier for me to use and put where I want instead of getting those positioned with the suction cups.

Yep, if the air is smooth I am usually hanging around 175-180 mph IAS in descent and it is like it is on rails. He had lots of time in Mooneys and did commercial training in the one the school had. We didn't know how far out the tower was going to extend us, and with a gear speed of 120 mph and flap speed of 100 mph it takes some time to get slow enough to do it. I never said it wasn't pretty, I said it wasn't ideal. It was clean, it was a forward slip at a constant airspeed and rate of descent all the way down final, but a forward slip doesn't fall in the category of a stabilized approach. I was glad for the experience to learn just what you can do with the plane.

I'm going to recommend a different route. You are going to be a new pilot and I would guess want to fly. If you want to fix up a plane, buy a flying plane that maybe doesn't have everything you want but is less expensive than the ones that do have everything. I did that, knowing that I was going to spend money over the years upgrading it. I've had it for almost 4 1/2 years and flown 100+ hours every year with no major surprises. Once the GFC500 goes in at the end of this month I will have spent more on upgrades than I did on the plane, and I'm good with that because it is how I want it. I also have a great relationship with my AP/IA and have done a lot of the work myself and most of the installs so I know it inside and out. I have really enjoyed working on the plane and getting to know it, but I am glad that I have also put almost 500 hours on it as I got to know it.

Thanks for the report. I just keep some squares of leftover cling tint from tinting the rear windows in the seat back pockets. When my wife or I want it we just put it up on the window and move around as needed. You can even put a piece high on the windscreen if the sun is coming through and blinding you or just to keep it off your arms/torso for those warm days.

Not exactly on a stabilized approach, but it can be done (at least in the short bodies). Pull power to idle, get to gear speed, drop the gear, and put in a full slip, you come down like an elevator. In my transition training we found ourselves very high entering a downwind. The tower extended us out but about 4 miles from the field we were still 4,000 AGL when the tower called our base and cleared us to land. I asked my CFI if I should ask to extend a little further. His response was "No, you can get down there." I followed his instructions, pulled power back, turned base letting the nose drop to keep the wing unloaded, turned final about 3,000 AGL on a 4 mile final, dropped the gear and slipped it all the way down to short final. It was not ideal, but nice to have my CFI show me what could be done with the plane.

I do, and routinely hear calls from center for planes (often airliners) to switch to xxx.xx frequency from a missed handoff. On Superbowl Sunday we were flying back from AZ to CA but always knew the score of the game. Every time there was a score change someone on Guard announced it. The one time I busted a Bravo (Vegas, the outer shelf at 9,500' by about a mile) was because I had tuned Guard and instead of hitting "Monitor" I flipped it to primary. Noticing I was in the Bravo I started an immediate turn and called to ask if I was cleared in the Bravo. After the second call I heard "You're on guard..."

Thank you for the review. After almost 500 hours of hand flying my Mooney, no AP, no positive control, my plane goes into the shop April 26th for the GFC500. I can't wait.

@ragedracer1977 can probably weigh in on the discussion. He had a very clean M20C that he flew all over the place, everywhere from Texas to CA. He recently upgraded to a beautiful 310 and could give insights on both. For the cost of operation take a look at posts that @KLRDMD has made. Ken has owned more different planes than most and has shared real cost of operation numbers frequently.

That looks like the 3M tape that you use on the back of Command Hooks. They come in all different sizes. https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=command+hooks&ref=nb_sb_noss I just have mine mounted with velcro.

Neither does my hangar neighbor, just him and his wife, never had any children, 99% of the time it's just the two of them, but he loves his A36.

My hangar neighbor has one. It is just him and his wife, they don't need a plane that size, and rarely take anyone with them flying, but they both love it so much they can't think of getting something different. If I needed something bigger than the Mooney it would be on my list.