EricJ

My airplane made it's first test flight on Dec 10, 1976, and the 2nd on Jan 8, 1977. S/N 24-0077. It has the entry step and a three-position cowl flap. A hangar neighbor has a J about 25 serial numbers before mine and no step from the factory. Next time I see him I'll ask whether his cowl flaps are two or three position.

That's my understanding, that there are two styles of the manual cowl flaps, one with two stable states: closed and fully open, and one with three stable states: closed, half-open, and fully open. My 77J has the three-state kind. I've no idea which airplanes got which styles, and it's interesting that here are two examples of 77J models with the two styles.

Redbirds, if they're actual fully-equipped Redbirds rather than something cobbled together from newegg, count if it is an ATD. So no motion required. So you probably can't just fire up your home simulator and get current, regardless of how well equipped it might be, unless it is an approved ATD. What makes an approved ATD? The FAA position seems to be that they know one when they see one and they approve case-by-case. It is apparently subjective. So the new rules really benefit schools that already have "approved" ATDs or people with enough extra cash (and space) to spend the 5-10 AMUs to get a personal "approved" ATD from one of the few vendors that have been blessed by the FAA (e.g., Redbird). Maybe someday the FAA will clarify what attributes are needed for a system to qualify as an ATD. This would allow somebody to put together an equipment list or something so people could turn their existing home simulator into an ATD, which would be genuinely useful. Without that, you have to go rent time on a Redbird and probably pay somebody to show you how to set it up, which will have its own learning curve and practical proficiency requirement. This assumes that the rental facility is okay with customers accessing the setup menus, which might not be a great idea. So as good of a step as this might seem, I'm not holding my breath on the execution being all that useful. You'll still likely have to rent time on a Redbird (or other "approved" ATD), and likely also have to pay for somebody to sit there and set it up for you. I get the most bang for the buck out of the sims if somebody is there to reset it to a new approach once you've completed one. I keep hoping that some local school figures this out and makes a "currency package" where they set up the programming for the six approaches, track, intercept, and hold, and get you in and out of the sim in a decent amount of time and charge appropriately. I've been thinking of just renting a storefront somewhere and setting up a sim or two JUST for currency sessions, but I'm not sure I want to deal with the FAA deciding on-the-fly what requirements might or might not apply to such a facility.

I'd ask around about what authority might care about that. I wouldn't want to get called about somebody else's deviation and have to prove it wasn't me.

There is a large school of thought, backed up by data, that unnecessary maintenance adds risk. For this reason many large organizations (e.g., airlines) don't do unscheduled or unnecessary maintenance. That being said, you have to manage your own risk and time and money. If it gives you more peace of mind to do it, then that has some value.

I've found that, too, that if in doubt priming for just a couple of seconds instead of a full five or six count works well.

I'm a step ahead of you; almost through the first semester and generals. Four more to go.

And nowhere is it more disappointing to pay up on an already very expensive project to take it to the "more reputable" shop and still get something that has to go back for multiple warranty trips to fix amateur mistakes. Could've done it better myself, but the FAA says thirty-five years experience as an Electrical Engineer in the wireless comm business is not sufficient qualification, so the kid with the soldering iron and the Repairman Certificate should do it.

Often airports with FBOs that charge parking fees also have free transient parking. If it is a towered field, just ask the tower (or ground, depending) where the free transient parking is. If it is an untowered field, call ahead and ask where the free parking is. Some airports only charge ramp/parking fees if you stay overnight. Lake Havasu City is like this, and has a box on the light pole like some public campgrounds where you drop your payment in an envelope and put it in the box. Since there is such a diversity of policies and methods at various airports, it seems reasonable to expect that one should research the situation before going somewhere, rather than complain afterwards. Just IMHO.

Also check that it's not just the shear pin broken. If the motor is run while the emergency crank clutch is engaged it'll snap the shear pin (rather than trash the whole cable), which is a cheap and easy repair.

If the diaphragm fails the fuel comes out the vent hole in the top of the divider.

Sorry, I wasn't clear but I use the mechanical tach, which is real time at 2400 rpm. I think the EDM900 defaults to 2400 rpm as real time, but as you mention according to the manual this can be edited, as can the displayed total airframe time, etc.

I have a JPI EDM900 and I kept my mechanical tach, since the logbook was already consistent with that number and it's a nice backup. I usually cruise around at about 2500 rpm, so the tach, which records real time at 2400 rpm, runs faster than real time by about 4%. I use the Avare EFB, which will log the entire flight and will email me a .kml file of the gps samples starting from when the airplane begins moving until it stops moving, which is consistent with the FAA definition of time. Loading that file into mymaps.google.com gives me a graphical depiction and I can compare the beginning and end times to get the total loggable flight time. My EDM and the Avidyne 540 will also log time, but I never remember to use them, while Avare will automatically send me an email with the kml file at the end of each flight. I wish there was a smoother way. At some point the airplane avionics will automatically update our electronic logbook every time we fly, but we do not seem to be to that point yet.

Bruce's makes good plugs that aren't overly expensive, and have the flags so that you can see when they're installed from the cockpit. https://www.aircraftcovers.com/ Click on Engine Inlet Plugs. I got a set for my J and they're quite nice and fit well.

I agree on both points. I call a Mooney the Porsche 911 of the Sky. Old school 911, air cooled boxer motor, tight handling, performs much better than you'd expect for the surprisingly low power it makes, pretty Spartan inside, not a lot of room to carry much crap, and very efficient at what it does and it does it well.

Touch and goes!

Crap is crap whether it's new or old or right side up or upside down. I was responding to the notion that just because something is older and "simpler" and a particular example has been good, that it must be better.

An A&P doesn't get to decide what is or isn't a Major Alteration, but they can certainly use their judgement as to whether something falls under the definitions of Major Alterations in the regs. Yeah, that can come down to splitting hairs, and that's definitely what people do for this stuff, and way too often IMHO. Major Alterations are defined two places in the regs, the first is 14 CFR Subchapter A Part 1, Definitions and Abbreviations, 1.1, General Definitions, which gives the basic umbrella, catch-all definition of what a "Major Alteration" is. Changing lamp technologies doesn't seem to me to fall anywhere near it. "Major Alteration" means an alteration not listed in the aircraft, aircraft engine, or propeller specifications-- (1) That might appreciably affect weight, balance, structural strength, performance, powerplant operation, flight characteristics, or other qualities affecting airworthiness; or (2) That is not done according to accepted practices or cannot be done by elementary operations. The other is Part 43 Appendix A, Major Alterations, Major Repairs, and Preventive Maintenance, which all aircraft owners would do well to be familiar with, if for no other reason than to know what "Preventive Maintenance" is per the regs, since we can do all those things without the need for an A&P or an IA. Anything that is not listed in 43 App. A as a Major Alteration or Major Repair is, by definition, a Minor Alteration or Minor Repair unless it is Preventive Maintenance or falls under the umbrella of the Major Alteration definition in Part 1.1. I think it is very difficult to point to either of those places and make even a weak case that changing a lamp technology is a Major Alteration or Major Repair. However, in Preventive Maintenance, an owner is specifically allowed to not only replace landing and position bulbs, but reflectors and lenses and troubleshoot and repair the wiring for landing lights. So, no mention of changing lighting technologies that would, IMHO, remotely suggest that a 337 needs to be involved, but specific mention that an owner can futz around with bulbs and reflectors and lenses, and, in the case of landing lights, even hack at the wiring as much as they'd like. To me that suggests that the folks who wrote the regs didn't think that exterior lighting was nearly as big a deal as some make it out to be. Some IAs are totally fine with owners changing to LED position and/or landing lights without a 337 or even A&P/IA involvement for socketed lamp changes. Others have different opinions. I think it comes down to you and your IA. YMMV.

My airplane failed static check a few months ago due to a leak in the pitot tube. A new one was less than $700 for my 77 M20J.

I had a KMA 20 that was even simpler and was a piece of crap and caused all kinds of problems. I replaced it with another off of ebay that was a lot better but still caused problems. I replaced that with a PMA450B and now everything works wonderfully. Old, simple crap is still crap.

A lot of WWII airplanes had throttle stops that were weak safety wires that could be breached in a pinch. Many of the engines had reserve power that could be used for a little while before it would overstress things enough that an overhaul was required. The safety wire integrity was a record of whether the reserve had been used so that the engine needed to be inspected. The idea was to not use it unless you needed it, but if you needed it, it's there, go for it. Yeah, I don't get the idea of not using everything at your disposal when things are going pear-shaped.

My fave was the mechanic that plugged the outflow valves in a KC-135 and then did a pressurization test on the cabin with a homemade pressure gauge. Exploded the fuselage and destroyed the airplane. The pics are rather surprising. https://theaviationgeekclub.com/time-kc-135-stratotanker-aircraft-exploded-failed-pressure-test/

There's been a few instances where I just skipped compliance with instructions from a tower because they were clearly in error. e.g., I was cleared onto the runway for takeoff when there was a Cessna on short final, that I was looking right at. I just held my position. They did rescind that clearance a little bit later.

I think the actual answer to the question is always, "As little as possible."

The attached layer of air slows down as it moves along the surface of the airplane, so there's less benefit to flush rivets after a certain distance from the leading edge or nose. You'll see the same thing if you take a close look at an airliner.