ilovecornfields

I heard a Mooney say they were unable to maintain 500 fpm climb rate but I forget the tail number. Sounds like the same controller. Couldn’t have been more helpful. My son was really excited when we switched from Oakland to Seattle Center - he said “We’re in Seattle already? That was fast!”

Filed V23. Ended up getting direct EUG then UBG. Seattle Center was great. Gave me a block altitude 14-15k and let me divert around the weather at will. Portland is beautiful! I would post a picture but the ones already posted are way nicer than the ones I took! Thanks for all the help.

He’s a pretty regular contributor to mooneyspace so I’ll let him decide if he wants to comment on that. I honestly don’t know what the problem was but I have not experienced the same issue.

The pressure that the O2D2 requires is minimal. I have an altitude compensating system and they still recommended getting a regulator to limit the pressure even further. You can always call Mountain High and ask. They have always been friendly and knowledgeable when I have called. I do know of one person who was never able to get good oxygen saturations using the OD2D with an altitude compensating system but my understanding is that they took the system back and issued a refund.

I have mine tucked into the back pocket of the front passengers seat. Not ideal, but I don’t have to worry about it coming loose and smacking me in the head in turbulence and it’s easy to reach. When I’m not using it the cannulas and tubing/regulator fit nicely. My son is pretty good at tangling himself up in it when he gets in and out of the back seat. He is so good at it that I’m pretty sure he does it on purpose.

Thanks for all of the great responses! I considered direct, but the terrain seemed rather inhospitable if something happened enroute. Not sure if going along the coastline is any better. Going east seemed to give the option of more places to stop if the weather became worse or I needed to land as well as the option of coming into Portland at a lower altitude through the Columbia River Gorge. I’ll try to go VFR but not sure if the weather will cooperate. I have FIKI but I’m not excited to test the theory that Mooneys handle ice well!

I’m planning a trip from Santa Rosa to Portland. There seem to be plenty of opinions here, so I was wondering if anyone has made a similar trip and has any useful comments on Plan A vs Plan B? Trip is in an Ovation. Thanks!

I bought my O2D2 several months ago and haven’t filled the tank since then and I have it set to automatically go on at 5000 ft. It’s easily 10x more efficient than the oxysaver cannula. I almost bought a cascade system before someone posted about their O2D2 system and now I’m really glad I didn’t!

Couldn’t agree more. I think we spend a lot of time on the mechanical aspects because they are are easy to evaluate and change. You can look for failing parts, trend oil data and carefully monitor your engine. The fact is, human behavior is much more difficult. It is difficult to teach good judgement and decision making. If anyone has read any of Jim Reason’s work on accidents and human error or looked into metacognition (thinking about how we think) you will see the combination of human factors and environmental factors that lead to accidents and how our flawed thought process often makes things worse instead of better. Out brains are wired in certain ways so that we don’t always make good choices or respond appropriately to challenging circumstances. We often aren’t nearly as good as we think we are (Dunning-Kruger Effect) and most people are very poor at objectively evaluating risks (like my sister in law who won’t buy “dangerous plastic toys from China” but delays her children’s childhood vaccinations). There was recently a post here about someone claiming several times to have a great understanding of weight and balance, yet not being able to correctly interpret the weight and balance charts and suggesting there was nothing wrong with loading a vintage Mooney over gross with an aft CG—because he had flown over gross before and did just fine. Presumably with unsuspecting passengers that most likely would have no idea what additional risk they were taking by this pilot’s poor decision making. Not to go on a soapbox, but what that statistic shows is that YOU are the most dangerous part of the airplane and the one most prone to failure (and so am I!). Until we hold ourselves and each other to a higher standard and insist on better decision-making we will continue to the see the same preventable accidents occurring again and again.

I’ve had a similar problem. No problem sending from iPad to GTN, but changes on the GTN don’t always show up correctly on the iPad. It often truncates the flight plan. Sometimes when I hit direct to a fix on the approach it shows me going to the airport then back to the IAF. Sometimes, when I change the route on the GTN it will try to keep sending it to the iPad and I had to disable the auto-update feature on foreflight because this becomes annoying. Have FS 210 and GTN 750/650.

Please take Paul’s advice and meet with your CFI. Seriously.

Ended up getting two 2.5 gal containers from tksfluid.com with free shipping and no hazmat fee. Haven’t tried it out yet. I got two letters from Sporty’s. One said they had cancelled my flight club membership and were refunding me $30 and another one two days later saying they had automatically renewed my membership for $50. I honestly can’t tell whether their computer did this automatically or they’re just messing with me. @jaylw314 your comment reminds me of my friend from school who kept getting “randomly” searched on every single flight. Her comment was “when you are brown and your last name is Arab, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get randomly searched whenever you travel.” She changed her last name and the number of random searches decreased.

In the book “1984” they would constantly change who they were at war with, then claim that they had always been at war with that country, ignoring and destroying evidence to the contrary. I thought it was interesting that they claimed this had always been their policy, despite evidence to the contrary.

Had an interesting conversation with Sporty’s today. I’d joined their flight club to get free shipping on TKS fluid and cases of oil and when I tried to order more TKS fluid today they told me that flight club “specifically excludes TKS fluid and cases of oil.” I asked them when that had changed and they told me that had always been the case. I referred them to my previous three orders where I had free shipping on my TKS fluid and cases of oil and they told me if that was true, it had been a mistake from the shipping department. Reminded me a little bit of “1984” since the only reason I joined the flight crew was for the free shipping on these two items. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get 5-10 Gal containers of TKS fluid without paying $40-50 for shipping?

I’m going to Henderson as well, but it seems that once you get more than a half-dozen people picking the perfect day is going to be a real challenge. If I don’t make this one I’ll go for the next one. PRB is a pretty short flight anyway—takeoff, climb over the Cuesta grade, then pull the power back to enter the pattern.

I’ve never had a problem getting in and I’m based at SBP.

Cuesta doesn’t really have any programs like that but Michael Phillips in CMA is a great instrument instructor and less than an hour away by Mooney. He just got a write up in AOPA Pilot this month. He has a red bird simulator but I don’t know what kind of avionics it simulates since we just flew in my plane. You better bring your “A” game because he’ll keep failing things on you until he gets you right where he wants you to be. http://aviationinstruction.biz/

After a less than excellent experience at the Prop Park last time (no one there, had to get security to let us out, 4 planes in line for fuel) we tried Signature West this past weekend. I think I was last there 20 years ago when it was Beechcraft West. Had a great experience. They ran out to meet the plane. No ramp/handling fee. Took on 15 Gal 100LL and got out of there for less than $100. My son liked the popcorn too.

Thanks for the comments. I guess I should have done a better job explaining what I needed. I have the Alpha AOA with HUD sitting in a box, I’m just looking for recommendations on who has experience doing the installation since my mechanic didn’t seem excited to do it.

Anyone have any positive experiences getting an Alpha AOA installed in an Ovation? A couple of mechanics I spoke with were less than excited about the prospect of doing the installation.

Zulu 3 works well for my 7 year old. Seems to maintain a good seal and be comfortable, even with oxygen. It has Bluetooth which links to his iPad so he can play Minecraft instead of kicking my seat when I’m trying to land. It works well unless he forgets to charge the iPad. In those cases the “pilot iso” feature is priceless.

I paid for the Savvy service and thought it was well worth it. Engines aren’t cheap so getting professional help will likely pay off in the long run.

You are correct. The local mechanic recommended sealing the panels. I sent the pictures to Greg at Advanced Aircraft in Troutdale and he said no way that will fix it. Flew it up there and he found the leak the same day, patched it and I was flying again a few days later. It’s been bone dry since then with no fuel smell!

Had breakfast with my family this morning. Flew to Lake Tahoe. Did some mountain flying with an instructor. Ate lunch. Flew home. Picked up my son from school and was home in time for dinner. Mooneys are awesome!

I ended up trying the Prop Park. I wanted to try it again before I make up my mind. They were having some issues the day I went and there was no one around so we ended up having the airport police let us out. We were eventually able to get the gate code to get back in, but then there were 4 planes in line for the self-service fuel so I just ended up getting a few gallons from the Signature fuel truck and flew home. Seems like a good idea, but I think they’re still trying to work out the kinks. I’ll give it another try next time I’m down there. Seems like it might be the way to go once everything gets settled.