ilovecornfields

So, as I’ve mentioned before I commute to work. Weather today was beautiful so I got a briefing on Foreflight, dropped my son off at school and drove to the airport. When I got to the hangar I noticed this beast drilling into the asphalt and blocking the only way out to the taxiway. I called airport operation and mentioned that it would have been nice to know that I couldn’t get my plane out that way and an email or NOTAM would have been nice. Their response was that since there was an obstruction NOTAM (below) I should have expected the taxi lane to be closed. I eventually spoke with the airport manager who basically said that it’s certainly reasonable for me to expect to be notified when I can’t get my plane out but they have an “unfilled vacancy” for the person who normally does that so it didn’t happen. Good thing I gave myself enough time to drive to work! What does the peanut gallery think? Am I overreacting or would this really piss you off as well? I called FSDO (they texted me a link to schedule a zoom meeting) but I’m not really sure what that would accomplish.

I called several MSCs and asked them if they knew of any aircraft for sale. Top Gun got me in touch with a very nice Bravo owner who had a beautiful plane for sale. In the end, I ended up getting an Ovation but I don't think it would hurt to call the MSCs if you haven't already. I think the market right now is very challenging for buyers. I think most of us here would be willing to sell, it's just a matter of what price you're willing to pay.

Welcome back to the world of flying! If you’ve been gone for 20 years the instrument stuff has changed quite a bit (like GPS approaches). You might benefit from spending some time with John and Martha and going through their instrument course (bonus - no checkride at the end!). Don’a advice is sound, but I just went for both the flight review and IPC at once after taking a long break. I’m not a very good VFR only pilot, especially living on the coast. If you’re near the Bay Area the low viz and marine layer can move in pretty quickly.

I called him. It seems pretty legit. It’s a foreign buyer so there’s some transaction fees I have to pay for up front but I really don’t see how this could go wrong. He even paid me much more than my plane is worth to make up for the inconvenience!

I like the MSC in Troutdale (Portland) but it’s not any cheaper than Top Gun. I like how Top Gun does the inspection, gives you a squak list and then lets you say “yes” or “no” to every item on the list. Very professional.

Didn’t you hear? He promised not to invade until AFTER the Olympics are over. Truly a grand gesture. Not trying to offend anyone. I have nothing against the citizens of either country—just not fond of some of the current world leaders. I kind of miss Gorbachev. At least he had that cool port-wine stain on his head and was kind of predictable. One of my favorite Daily Shows was when Jason Jones interviews him and he threatens to throw him against the wall.

Trust, but verify. Just curious based on the differences people mentioned above if it's an alternative for when GPS is down. Obviously not as a primary source. I grew up being told "it's the USSR, not Russia." I guess now it's Russia. Maybe in the future it will be the USSR again.

Don’t mean to resurrect an old thread, but I was bored today as my autopilot was flying me home and started playing with my Aera 796 and noticed it does use GLONASS. I’m assuming the GTN750/650 don’t. Has anyone had experience with their portable unit (or iPad) working whenGPS is unavailable?

Locks on plane doors aren’t very beefy so I’ve been using this control lock from the aviation section of autozone. Helps work unruly passengers as well.

My son outgrew his Mooney sweatshirt so I wanted to get him a new one. I though I had bought it from https://mooneyspeedshop.merchorders.com but I don’t see any sweatshirts on their site. Anyone have a current source for getting Mooney sweatshirts?

You definitely have options. Personally, I almost never fly around LA VFR. It’s too busy for me and I like have another set of “eyes” looking for traffic. Yes, I don’t always get the route I want. It rarely costs me more than 5 minutes. I flew to San Diego last year and compared going direct VFR over the top of the Bravo vs the “crazy” TEC route that takes you over East LA. The difference was about 5 minutes. It was even less when I actually flew it because they gave me direct several times. It’s nice that we have multiple options and I’d like to keep it that way. It seems that too often people engage in a behavior that harms others (or takes advantage of a common good) then get really upset when that behavior is restricted and don’t realize how one contributed to the other. Would you like the LAX Class B to go back up to 12.5k’ again?

As a student pilot I went from CRQ to HWD to visit my brother in college. I had LORAN so I planned to go direct at 12,500 but due to the mighty Arrow II’s anemic summer climb rate I realized as I was approaching LA that I wasn’t high enough to get over the Bravo and I hadn’t really planned to go around. I asked them for a clearance to climb through the bravo and they asked me what my cruising altitude was. I looked at the 200 fpm climb rate on the VSI and said “12,600.” There was a pause and they said, “Cleared though the Los Angeles Class Bravo airspace, climb and maintain 12,600.” I’m sure they got a laugh out of that one. Did the whole flight at 12,600.

I’ve found Top Gun to be very accommodating and reasonable. More often than not they get me in right away. Because of their experience they can often diagnose and fix the problem quickly instead of spending hours trying to figure it out.

You’re right, of course. It’s your right to fly 500’ over the Bravo, make everyone get out of your way and not talk to anyone. Just like it’s your right to take a long time at the checkout line, fart a bunch when you’re in line, not have your payment method ready and then insist on paying by check. Most people will think you’re obnoxious and you’ll make everyone’s life a little unpleasant— you might not care. The overwhelming majority of the time, ATC makes my life easier. I don’t mind returning the favor. I get free traffic advisories and maybe I avoid having the airliners all fly around me. But that’s just me. You do you.

I’m hoping those are the going prices for Ovations. I might want to sell mine in the future if that keeps up… I agree the UL looks “sus” but it could be possible. Interesting choice in avionics for the panel but I guess it would work. I also like the use of using Savvy. They’ll even look at the logbooks for free (or at least they used to a few years ago). Maybe see if the owner is willing to share oil analysis info?

I really like the Opposing Bases podcast. It’s two controllers/pilots that explain things well from their point of view. Apparently, you can be above the bravo, but still be a pain in the a$$ if you’re in the path of the arrivals and departures. Their recommendation is to just use flight following so they can kindly ask you to get out of the way if you’re causing problems instead if vectoring everyone around you.

Well, then I DEFINITELY want the chains. I don’t want my gas cap getting sucked out of the plane like that guy got sucked out of his Taylorcraft a few months ago.

Thanks!. Exactly what I was looking for. Found a fire extinguisher on Amazon. Hopefully I’ll never find out how well it works.

Adobe Acrobat Pro will turn a word document into a searchable pdf in a couple of minutes. My guess is they don’t want to lose control of the document and by making you pay for the class in order to get the contents it allows them to retain control. It’s their document to do with as they please so it’s a perfectly understandable approach, just limits the audience. I didn’t have time to take the APS engine management course in person so I did it online and got the binder. I’m sure if I’d gone in-person I would have learned more but I still learned a ton from doing it online and reading the binder. None of this stuff is rocket science. If they wanted to make it more accessible they easily can - the fact that they haven’t supports some of the criticisms others have made.

Any reason in particular you want to avoid Top Gun? I’ve been going there for years and have had great experiences.

Random questions for the group: Is there a chain I can use to keep the fuel cap on? I’m tired of replacing these rubber things. Random question #2: any fire extinguishers that fit in the bracket for a H3R Model RT-A1200? I noticed mine was empty and tried to buy a replacement but apparently they’re “discontinued due to leaks.”

My apologies to those with larger than average prostate glands and active AARP memberships. I completely agree - age isn’t the problem. It’s the behaviors outlined above and the resistance to change/improve/evolve. It would take about 15 minutes to make a pdf of the manual and set up an Etsy store to sell it online (it took my son about that long to set up his store). Live-streaming the videos or recording them and editing them to view later is ridiculously easy. My son is in elementary school and produces his own videos, edits them on Final Cut Pro and posts them online. He even edits some of his friend’s videos. Lots of dinosaurs had great stuff but then were wiped out by disruptive technologies. Anyone remember Sears? Imagine if they sold the course with an online option where you watch the videos either together or asynchronously then they send you a list of recommended instructors and you finish the flying with someone on the list. How many more sessions could you have a year and how many more people would you reach?

And risk losing the Flomax sponsorship? And AARP discounts? And the video clips of the topless women holding speed limit signs? Say it ain’t so! I’m all for Mooney safety and I even just recently recommended that a new owner attend one of their clinics, but my impression was that they were pretty set in their ways and not really receptive to new ideas, especially from “outsiders.”. Good luck with your endeavor.

I’ve been using the splitter for several years and have had zero problems.

Greg at Advanced Aircraft (TTD) is excellent. He saved me tens of thousands of dollars on a prebuy.