larrynimmo

In 2018, my second annual, I sent mine to TopGun in California…they changed the spring…lubed the unit, and changed the cable… it was $2,100 and they did it all in less than one week. how times have changed

For years I’ve had issues with my touch screen…and I wanted to send it back to get a new screen…instead they talked me into recalibrating my screen. this is a pain in the ass process, but overall not that difficult to do…before doing it, I couldn’t get my screen to do anything…at other times, only the bottom of the screen functioned…but today before the process nothing. you need to have a USb to MiniB cable…you have to have the communication cable hooked to unit and to your laptop…then and only then you have to load the driver…then load the “tool” program and pick NGT9000 from the menu select maintenance, the at bottom of laptop screen select enter…then you are in…press the Lynx screen for screen alignment …then I puts on dot on screen, you touch and release…then it goes through verification mode, and you reset unit. there are other utilities but I didn’t fool with them. after power cycling several times, it never failed ….

As a back-up to altitude awareness, by Foreflight data line lists “GPS altitude”. Everytime I fly an approach, I make sure that my Promax, G5, and 6pack alt are reading basically the same

I failed my private pilot practical the first time…I was devastated…two weeks later I went up again with the DPE and I aced the balance. two years later i had a “date” with the DPE for instrument….this time, I resigned myself that I would fail, and then retest as necessary. This made me feel so relaxed and not pressured…not only did I pass, the DPE told me I did the best he had ever seen for upset attitude recovery. After we landed, and I was cleared to taxi I failed to stop to do the “post landing checklist”…and DPE took exception…I explained that I had covered all of it in the landing roll…(thank goodness I didn’t miss anything)

That is what I was looking for when I bought my 1981 Mooney M20J….and what I bought was a lower hour airframe always hanger kept…with a wore out engine. my task was started…installed new engine, prop rebuilt, new govenor, new engine monitor, new starter, new alternator, new voltage regulator, all new state of the art avionics, new battery, new tires and brakes, redid the interior, all new LED lights including strobes, sent out my landing gear box to have the no back spring, plus serviced, tanks resealed. on Wednesday when my plane wouldn’t start due to a coil shunt on my starter solenoid I came to the realization that no mater what I do, it’s now a 42 year old airplane.

My original one was a SAZ9201A…. starter solenoid….

The coil was “shunted” and will trip the 10 amp breaker for the solenoid AI and I installed the PMA solenoid from spruce… to reduce wire tension, we had to push slack starter wire from engine compartment into the cab.

My 201 m20j 14v havr a bad starter solenoid….where can I get one

Something I would like to mention is that (while training for instrument) when I was flying one day to join friends for breakfast and there was a solid marine layer I debated getting an IFR clearance…but ultimately I turned around and flew back to my home airport. there is a saying…”a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous” after getting my ticket, I still had several approaches that didn’t go well because I entered unusual handling…my second real approach, ATC had me 3,000’ above the FAF and vectored me almost directly to that point at a 90 degree angle intersect, set up for a LPV, and ATC tells me to “join the localizer”while getting beat up in the soup….so I tried to program for the ILS, and guess what I blew through that intersect and was redirected

With my plane, I only do the wings just outboard of the landing gear….i use the ACF-50….it only takes about 5 oz…the key is using 80 PSI and truly fogging the wings rather than spraying. I do it every year at annual…rivets will smoke and there will be residue mainly on bottom of wings for the entire year

I am so amazed by how many Mooneys there are in my area….(easton MD)…everytime I fly I hear them on the radio, definately a disportionate number of Mooneys

The way I inspect…. buy a cheap $20 borescope on eBay that has a plug in for I phone or samsung tape it to a copper capillary (very thin copper tubing). The copper can be arc such that you can fish it through the tailpipe into the muffler upon examination…most of my baffles were blown away

About 6 months ago I looked to upgrade from my J and I discussed with my AI…he asked why?…1. You know your plane, 2. Most of your trips are under 100 miles 3. Bigger plane adds more maintenace costs with very little benefits. in the end, it’s about your mission…and for my mission, my IFR stellar J is my ticket for affordable “jet set” plane for those under 100 mile trips

My AI told me when setting the timing of a double mag, the only time he is concerned is when the contacts open at exactly the same time