211º

IIRC, you can remove the Cyl No. 1 exhaust pipe to provide space to remove the alternator instead of removing the lower cowl.

When I was looking - I also had an issue on the right/green side. Knowing what I know now, if there isn’t a reason to think that there is an abrasion in the green line, odds are better that it is the servo. There is another thread around here that indicates the size of the nut for the servo and for green line out - if you don’t want to look for that thread, look in the tail section for the two servos (smaller ones if you also have altitude hold) and the wrench sizes should be the same. The only way that I know to remove the servos is a lot of before you start photos, an imagination of what your hand is feeling, a small handled ratchet, a little swearing, a little pain from the edge of the Inspection portal, and some luck. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Brittain Autopilot Systems https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic?share_fid=55491&share_tid=285&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emooneyspace%2Ecom%2Findex%2Ephp%3F%2Ftopic%2F285-Brittain-Autopilot-Systems&share_type=t&link_source=app This post has tons of info. I summarized my lessons learned in response 195. There are many other tidbits in this thread as well. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

If you’re kneeling rearward on the rear seat, it is on the pilot’s side wall near the floor in the cargo area. The side panel should have screws that permit it to “swing” forward. If you open the large access panel outside on the pilot’s side, peak in to the immediate left, you should see the red and green tubes traversing from the cabin floor. Also there is a thread around here that contains the schematics.

Don’t forget that there are at least a couple of fillers so it’s not a closed system and the smell will leak out in the areas of the filters. +1 for the t-connections in the baggage area. From this location with a hand vacuum pump you can test both directions of the rudder and both ailerons. Pump to a 5 psi reading and see if it holds for 1 minute.

Yes! This with two lamps hooked up to a temperature activated switch that we used to use in the cows' watering tank in the winter time!

I fly into Downtown pretty regularly. People fly into Downtown because of the fuel prices. The hangars are nice (and they have wifi - or maybe I'm close enough to the pilot's lounge). There are a couple/few Mooneys on the field - and I think that one of them (an E) may have some fancy new cutting edge Garmin stuff in it. As I'm reading this, I guess that I'm saying "take a close look at Wheeler Downtown, it is a pretty great place."

Through work, I won tickets to the Chiefs' Game on this past Thursday. After I committed to going and using the tickets, I checked the weather and discovered that the forecast was Low IFR for all of Thursday and Friday. The forecast for Downtown Wheeler Airport had a 700 foot ceiling. I thought about changing my personal minimums down to 1,000 feet and "going for it!" But a cooler portion of my brain persevered and I decided to go on Delta's 0600 flight instead. It was solid IMC from takeoff to over 10,000 feet and then between layers the rest of the way to KC. When we landed at MCI on Thursday morning, I asked the captain where he broke out - "about 350 feet". Glad that I have a portion of my brain that is founded on using facts, not just gut and go-for-it.

A few days ago, I flew from Cincinnati Lunken to KC Downtown. After passing 5,000 feet, I was in solid IMC (for the most part) for the next couple of hours. It got to the point, where the bright white outside was too bright and I needed to pull my hat’s brim down to block out forward sight. I’m still a new IFR pilot, but it was fun. From a new IFR pilot’s view, the combination of the G5, Positive Control, and enough bumpy flights in and out of clouds has increased confidence levels some (which is nice). From my limited experience, flying IFR with the G5 is really kind of nice as the cross check are all so close to each other. My personal minimums are still conservative, but the dispatch rate of the Mooney is higher. Mooney with IFR for the win!

You just can’t capture the same view with a camera. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I’ve come to the realization that maintenance is my responsibility- that I need to do the homework to determine the relevant ADs, the things that should be checked at annuals, and to be my airplane’s managing mechanic. I don’t know how to fix everything in an airplane, but I do know that (with the right information) what to ask about and what to push. I’ve found that mechanics will sometimes shrug at things that I thought should be addressed and concurrently “fix” things that are just fine. At each annual I now make sure that nothing is fixed until the inspection is complete and I proactively provide a list of things that I’m aware of that should be addressed. This list is quite helpful as it also highlights the things that are not in their area that will need to be addressed by other specialists.

@irishpilot, yep - one area to go to about flying Mooney IFR - my thinking was that it would be a place to learn from others... but also as the IFR certificate changes one's airplane to "real" transportation - something that I'm just recently grasping. @gsxrpilot - that is a great idea - one's own minimum's on an approach plate! That is just the kind of thing that would be great to have corralled in one area. @carusoam - having them separate in their own MS sub-forum would make them easier to read through for new MSers or to browse through on really low IFR days. I suppose that we could also (just) use a consistent tag, but that would require diligence. Also, I get it that it might make things too diluted -- on the positive side, I won't ask for a Brittain Auto Pilot forum - but a couple of those crazy long threads are crazy useful to new comers.

About six or so months ago I went away for 10 days and picked up my IFR rating. Like just getting the ppl there is the “now is the time to continue to learn” thing. When I was a VFR only pilot I was very good and quite diligent at reviewing cloud bases and type of sky forecasts - few, scattered, broken — and then putting the whole picture together to see if I could make the VFR either below the bases or possibly above a layer with the forecast providing confidence/confirmation that I could get back through. Every evening before a long (500 mile cross country) there was always a bit of anxiety regarding my confidence level of getting there. I’m still nowhere near a down to minimums kind of pilot, but even with a 1500 foot personal minimum ceiling, my evening before flight anxiety is quite low and my dispatch rate is quite high. So, this is a long-winded way of wondering if there would be value in an IFR forum/sub forum are in MS? I’m not on Facebook anymore and that is one area that I miss. Buying a Mooney makes the Owner a time traveler. Getting the IR makes the IR rated pilot the master of his own Tardis. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Sometimes I think about flying an approach on a bumpy day in my 150 vs the M20E. That 150 was a light flag and undulating leaf in a moderate breeze. The 20E and the pneumatic wing leveler make the ride much more solid. One day I may end up having a new and amazing autopilot. But for now and for me the Brittain makes my flights pretty darn nice. Just enough of a hands-on requirement to never feel like a bus driver. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Ohio University in Athens Ohio. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Another short video using GoPro and Quik app. 1:40 in the air vs. 7 hours on the ground - picking up an offspring.

From Little Rock to Lunken yesterday. I found the key to making single camera stories was to make 10 second shots - not longer ones to edit down later - and then slightly tweak in the GoPro Quik app. Quik_2020-07-30_12-20-56.MOV

That makes sense when people are allowed to attend, but I didn’t think that people were permitted to attend/gather MLB games.

I always thought that the TFRs over sporting events were because all of the people in attendance. Do we really need them over MLB games anymore?

I recently was able to make (what I would call) a round-robin flight. It was a flight where instead of going there-and-back, I went there-then there2 - then over there - and then back flight (over several days). The kind of flights that when complete makes a shape that then has an area (that can be measured/calculated) inside of it. Over at https://ladieslovetaildraggers.com/10-things-i-learned-flying-indianas-perimeter-a-k-a-my-chronavirus-escape-day/ the author wrote about flying around Indiana's border (and she has also flown around the US's perimeter). All of this got me thinking - what is the largest area of flights that we've made where we've made a large round robin trek that could "gather", "harvest", or "calculate" a large area of land? I think that my current record is this last one KLUK KLIT KTCL KUNI KLUK. I could calculate this area with some engineering tools that I have, but for now here is a screen shot of the area/route and food for thought.

Over the last week, I flew from Cincinnati to Little Rock for work. On the day I was to fly back, I was delayed and that implied that I might be deviatiating around buildups and storms near dusk - I've done that once and not a fan of doing that again. So instead of doing the 3.5-ish hour flight (that would have begun with a 50-mile leg 90 degrees from on course) I decided to fly 2 hours to Tuscaloosa to see family. The next day, I then flew from Tuscaloosa to Athens, Ohio to have a birthday lunch with my son. Then after lunch a short-ish hop back to Cincinnati. All of this to say, "gosh, the flexibility of the Mooney (and general aviation) is something!" That and "you know those days when you want to fly, but you can't figure out a mission... it is nice to have those missions laid out by circumstances and happenstance"

From Deloitte's website (an example of other website's as well): One of the most important questions that must be addressed is when the cost of private aviation is considered an ordinary and necessary business expense. If business is typically conducted locally, or business travel is between major cities that are regularly served by the major airlines, it may be difficult to justify the cost of private air travel as an ordinary and necessary expense of the business. A better argument exists when the business requires flights to out-of-the-way locations without ready commercial air service, the timing and duration of business flights are unpredictable, or personal security is a significant concern. One of the sometimes (apparently) difficult things to substantiate to the IRS for the use of personal aircraft for business travel was the key phrase "Ordinary and Necessary". With Covid-19, I wonder if it is now "more ordinary" to want to use a personal plane for business travel instead of being so close to other passengers in the closed air system of commercial airplanes? Covid-19 also makes me wonder about the phrase "personal security" as it relates to the risk of being infected by other members of the traveling public - from the large airports and huge amount of personal interaction to sitting on a flight. Any thoughts?

I’ve heard that Cincinnati welcomes ops in their airspace as (I think/heard) that the pay for controllers in Bravo is better then Charlie. And the controllers want to get as many ops as they can to keep from reverting to a Class C (a concern ever since Delta Airlines left). Now I think that DHL and Amazon Prime are helping the numbers.

A minor tweak to the laminated checklists... I print them on very thick stock paper - similar life to laminated, but I can hand write items that I want to add to the paper as edits for the next version. I’ll have to try the ForeFlight now that I finally synced the headset’s Bluetooth. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Nothing to apologize for. How often do we get a taste of the simply joy of a kid and a new experience when we’re adults? Enjoy your Mooney. I still have to apologize to my wife after an excellent flight - apologize because I’m talking animated and happily while to her it is kind of just another flight. However to me, I’ve again slayed gravity and mastered great circle routes. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro