Cooperd0g

Yeah with the sizes of the phones in the last year, they are about half to 2/3 the size of a Mini so I think the Mini is dead.

Are you planning a digital engine monitor as well?

The NTSB will likely investigate since there was a fatality.

I'm in agreement with Bob, I don't like line up and wait either. There is a trade of efficiency with danger. I can't find the source right now, but I read a few years ago that line up and wait was one of the biggest sources of runway incursions. People thought they were given line up and wait when it was another aircraft, people started a takeoff when they were given line up and wait, aircraft were cleared to land when another one is conducting line up and wait. All bad scenarios. I do it because I follow the directions of ATC at towered airports, but it puts me on hyper-alert. ATC absolutely has to use "anticipated clearance" based on my experience. I frequently get cleared to land before the one in front of me has even touched down even, let alone off the runway. Certain aircraft types will have different buffer zones as well.

Heck, my squadron in Pensacola flew everything out yesterday.

I fly a lot of instrument and I saw my first marker beacon in well over a year to denote the final approach fix on an ILS last week. But it also was defined by DME. I would say no, it isn’t super relevant in the US.

The other thing is that the BRS system also relies on the fixed gear systems to absorb some of the impact. Without the landing gear there to add to the crumple factor, there is going to be a larger impulse on fuselage impact. Remember, it isn't the speed that kills, it is the sudden impact. Anything that can be done to reduce the deceleration forces makes it more survivable. It might be very difficult to engineer retractable gear with the same crumple capability as fixed gear. And that would be on top of fuselage changes needed. Regardless, if we end up having another kid then I might be out of the Mooney game in the future as well if we ever plan on taking the dog with us.

@Hank is correct. You are also limited from going into Class B airspace unless trained/signed off in it.

This is why I love AOA and wish it was a standard thing for light civil aircraft.

There is also the upgrade cost to consider. If you already have a J model and you go 160 knots on 9.5 gal/hr and you miraculously manage to get a 200hp diesel to fit still doing 160 knots on 4.5 gal/hr here are your annual fuel differences: 100 hours per year: 100LL - 950 gallons at, call it $5.30 per gallon = $5035 Jet A - 450 gallons at, call it $4.95 per gallon = $2227.50 150 hours per year: 100LL - 1425 gallons at, call it $5.30 per gallon = $7552.50 Jet A - 675 gallons at, call it $4.95 per gallon = $3341.25 Seems like a big difference and the more you fly, the more it makes sense to upgrade to this hypothetical engine. However, I would guesstimate the engine swap would be in the $40-45 AMU range. The existing IO-360 is costing $50.35 per hour on 100LL versus $22.28 per hour on Jet A for the theoretical diesel on the prices I used (sourced from averaging numbers on 100LL.com). That would take about 1500 hours to justify the cost of the engine swap; 3/4 of the way to TBO. Meanwhile I think most of the diesels that did come to market had lower TBO than the proven gas engines. Even if you did the swap at overhaul, there is probably a $10-20 AMU difference in cost and near 1000 hours of flying efficiency gain to earn back your investment. Now if you could get a 200hp turbo diesel for similar cost ... that is a different story, but also very unlikely. And don't forget the weight penalty; diesels weigh considerably more than gas engines for the same power.

I know this has mostly devolved into Halo vs Clarity, but I have a pair of Lightspeed Tangos and the wireless nature, along with the comfort, is fantastic. We got them because my wife thought they would be better for dealing with our son as he was only a year old when we started flying with him. She appreciated the lack of cables for him to grab. I tried them as well and found them to be very comfortable and used them on flights of up to six hours. The lack of cords is pretty freeing as well. You just have to be okay with keeping the batteries charged over night, but they lasted pretty long.

I have had a few people ask me and yes, I plan to keep flying GA. My wife is very forgiving and understanding. Plus she really enjoys flying and was super excited to have a plane of our own as we had talked about it for years. Right now I will let the insurance settle out and get everything sorted. We also discussed that from now on I will conduct a full brief with her on the plan just as if she was my co-pilot or wingman on a military flight. That way she will know if I'm doing something different and make me justify it. This is our way to mitigate this type of issue from happening again.

Yes, ForeFlight. He didn't seem to have an issue with it.

CG was towards the rear, but within limits.

When I spoke to the insurance claims guy he asked me what happened and I told him. Car insurance still pays if you are at fault. The claims guy said this should all be covered. I will forever have to report this accident and it will likely increase future rates.

I know what you are talking about (ASRS via NASA) and no, I did not. I called the NTSB as soon as I was out of the hospital. A couple of hours later the FAA inspector was already at the scene and I went back to talk with him as both he and the NTSB duty officer had requested I do so. I was told that I did not have to answer any questions if I did not want to, but that is not my way. When I was done the FAA inspector said that because of my candor there would likely not be any regulatory action, but there would most likely be a requirement to fly with a CFI for decision making and stall recovery before I could fly as PIC again. I have a feeling this wouldn't really qualify for that anyway.

I shared the story here because I wanted other people to learn and I didn't want to hide anything. That is they way we do mishap reporting in the Navy. I gave the exact same information to the NTSB duty officer and the FAA inspector at the scene after I was out of the hospital. I showed the FAA inspector all of my flight planning, take off performance data, weight and balance, etc.

You are correct, I should have fully evaluated if I felt that was a good option before changing my plan.

As I mentioned, I planned to back taxi and use all of 19. A person local and familiar with the airport mentioned the option to takeoff 01 with the intersection also as an option. I should have stuck with my original plan. I don't know why I decided to change. Clearly I shouldn't have. It was a lapse in decision making.

I practiced power on and off stalls with a CFI prior to ferrying the Mooney home to Florida. But the sensation is all together different when treetops are in your peripheral vision. We were loaded pretty full, but not quite at gross and definitely not over gross. With the three of us and full fuel we could carry an additional 165 lbs. We were about 80 or so pounds under. We don't always practice flying at, or near, gross so I'm sure that was a factor. I shared here because I do believe it is possible to learn from other's mistakes. I read many of the accident reports and it is difficult to see how I would make the same errors, but there are some that I could see myself making in the right conditions. I let a moment of distraction nearly kill my family.

Yes, the pilot is here. Yes, I recently purchased the aircraft. I flew from Pensacola on Friday and landed at W75 with about 10 gallons remaining. I filled up Saturday morning (54 gallons on board) and was planning to continue to New England. I checked the fuel during preflight as usual and I saw no water. I looked at the windsock as I finished my preflight and it was about 5 knots with a slight crosswind, but favoring 19. My plan was to back taxi and use the full length of 19. I looked at the windsock again as I was about to taxi and it was limp. I don't have a voice recorder so I'm paraphrasing from what I remember. During taxi, Unicom asked me my direction of travel. I said north. Unicom said that the winds were light and variable, not favoring a particular runway, and that no traffic was known to be inbound. He said I could use 01 if I wanted to be closer to course. At this point I was at the one taxi intersection with 01/19 and he said I could take off from there or back taxi and 180. This is where I made my first mistake. The taxiway intersection is not in the middle of the field. It is closer to the approach end of 01. But if you look at the taxiway diagram it is a short runway and the intersection cuts off a significant amount. I allowed this distraction to alter my plan and I elected to takeoff runway 01 from the intersection without fully considering the decision. There are trees not far past the end of the runway. I don't normally climb at Vx, but as I saw the trees I pulled for Vx and made my second mistake. I over-rotated and entered a power on stall. As I was barely over the treetops while I was attempting to correct, but the sight of the trees right beneath me tempered my forward pitch correction and I re-stalled. I lost lift on the left wing, rolling left. I did not have enough control to really pick a spot at that point, but I had enough rudder to keep the nose between the trees. Or I didn't and it was luck. I honestly can't say. It happened pretty fast by that point. I am a Navy pilot and TOPGUN graduate. I have my ATP and CFII. I completed my BFR in a 182 just a couple of weeks before I bought the Mooney. I am meticulous about safety and planning. I used to preach to students about the three things a pilot can never use: fuel in the truck, runway behind you and altitude above you. I frequently talk about complacency as a major cause for accidents, not just in aviation. I want to be clear, I am not attempting to place any blame on the Unicom. However, I allowed that brief conversation to distract me from my very solid plan and change to a very poor one. The left wing sheared off from the tree on the left side. The right wing entered the house with the fuselage and was leaking fuel. Debris from the structure prevented me from being able to open the door enough for escape. Neighbors called 911 and told us to stay put, but fuel was leaking and I wanted us out. A man who happened to be at the airport and getting ready to fly saw everything from my intersection takeoff to stall. He jumped in his truck and found us. He took charge of the group at the house, got the power to the house secured, apparently there was house wiring on or around us, climbed into the house and started pulling debris away so we could get out. This man subsequently held out gear, picked us up from the hospital after we were released, took us to his home and then brought us to a hotel. I am forever in his debt. The footwell crushed around my legs, but I was able to pull them out on my own only with minor abrasions. My plexiglas windshield was shattered and I have some lacerations on my head and bruising on my right arm. My wife was in the back seat next to our 13 month old son, who was in his car seat. My wife has a fair amount of bruising and soreness. My son has minor rash from his car seat restraints. Fortunately the home was unoccupied. We are very fortunate.

How are you guys calculating your true air speed?

I don't know, I say get what you want and just plan to do one fuel stop. 160 knots for 800 miles is 5 hours. I would need a range extending piss bottle to do that regularly.

If you lose the 160 knot requirement the my 20C can do it. That is also assuming that fuel is part of your 800 lbs.

Yes, I was thinking of removing the vac system as a weight savings idea.